FBI UCR Homicide Data — 202 recorded incidents
St. Louis has consistently ranked as one of America's most dangerous cities, with a homicide rate that on a per-capita basis rivals cities with far more total murders. The city's violence is concentrated in the neighborhoods of north St. Louis — places like Baden, Old North St. Louis, and JeffVanderLou — where decades of disinvestment, redlining, and the loss of industrial jobs have created conditions that have proven nearly impossible to reverse through policing alone. St. Louis's murder rate spiked after the 2014 Ferguson uprising, as social disruption and officer attrition contributed to a surge in violent crime that has never fully receded. The city has also seen notable serial cases, including the "St. Louis Hideous Murderer" who targeted women in the late 1990s, and the 2023 case of a mother accused of murdering her three children in their St. Louis apartment. FBI UCR data powers The Murder Channel's St. Louis tracker.
St. Louis, Missouri has recorded 202 homicides over the tracked period, with 237 victims identified. Tracking continues through 2026. The city ranks #10 among 339 U.S. cities tracked by the FBI, with a clearance rate of 15% — meaning an arrest or suspect identification was made in 30 of those incidents.
The weapon mix skews toward firearm - handguns (roughly 44% of cases with weapon data), with firearm - type unknown, knife/cutting instrument as the next-most-frequent categories. The single deadliest month on record was January 2022, with 21 homicides logged.
St. Louis's homicide rate is 131% above the average for tracked U.S. cities, based on FBI UCR data. 105 cases remain under investigation. Reporting is dominated by Flordell Hills Police Department, which filed 171 incident reports. For broader statewide context, see our Missouri state homicide data page. The St. Louis metropolitan area continues to be monitored as part of the national homicide tracking effort.