Two Colorado Cities See an Increase in Homicide Rates in 2022
According to a recent study done by WalletHub, homicide rates are increasing rapidly across the entire country. Some even more alarming news is that homicide rates have risen by an average of nearly 10 percent, just in recent months alone.
To figure out where the biggest homicide problems exist, WalletHub compared fifty of the largest U.S. cities based on per capita homicides in Q3 2022, as well as per capita homicides in Q3 2022 vs. Q3 2021 and Q3 2020.
The location with the highest increase in murders was determined to be Kansas City, Missouri. Detroit and St. Louis followed close behind for having the biggest surge in this type of violent crime.
Unfortunately, the results showed that two cities in Colorado also saw a spike in homicide rates per capita.
Colorado Springs was ranked 11th on the list for having the biggest uptick in homicide occurrences. Between the end of 2021 to the middle of 2022, a shocking amount of killings seemed to take place in Colorado Springs. Data shows that in 2022, there have already been more than 26 homicides reported in the city. This is double what the rate was a year ago. Domestic violence and drug trafficking are just a few of the factors linked to the homicides being carried out in the Springs.
RELATED: These are the 10 Most Dangerous Cities to Call Home in Colorado
Denver was last on WalletHub's list, landing at No. 50 for its rise in the overall homicide rate. The Denver Post reports that Colorado's capital city has had 62 homicides documented as of October 17, 2022. The most homicides any neighborhood in Denver has had this year is Five Points, with 6. Updated, detailed statistics, that are further broken down by each neighborhood within the city can be found here.
According to the Denver Post, crimes that were violent in nature started to rise after an eight-year decrease in 2014. Violent crimes in Colorado rose 10 percent from 2019 to 2020. Some experts speculate that the increase came after a tumultuous year, which included major events like a global pandemic and national protests.
Check out WalletHub's full rankings here.