Does California have lower homicide rates than some southern US states?

As protesters successful Los Angeles denounced United States President Donald Trump’s deportation policies, sometimes starring to clashes with instrumentality enforcement, Republican and Democratic politicians sparred implicit who has the bigger transgression problem: bluish states oregon reddish states.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, took to X to situation 3 elected Republican officials who had offered posts captious of California and Newsom’s handling of the caller protests.

🚨JUST IN: Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) calls for Governor Gavin Newsom to beryllium arrested.

"Lock him up."

"LA looks similar a 3rd satellite state — anarchists are successful charge, instrumentality enforcement is being attacked, and the regularisation of instrumentality is nonexistent." pic.twitter.com/v718Yau6wh

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 9, 2025

• On June 9, Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said Los Angeles “looks similar a 3rd satellite state – anarchists are successful charge, instrumentality enforcement is being attacked, and the regularisation of instrumentality is nonexistent”. Later that day, Newsom posted: “Alabama has 3X the homicide complaint of California. Its execution complaint is ranked 3rd successful the full country.”
• On June 10, Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma posted: “America is sick of amerciable migration and weak, lawless wide leadership.” He called it “rich” that Newsom was suing Trump to reverse the president’s federalisation of California’s National Guard. Later that day, Newsom posted: “If you privation to sermon violence, let’s commencement with your state’s execution complaint – which is 40 percent higher than California’s.”
• Also connected June 10, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted: “What’s happening successful California would ne'er hap present successful Arkansas due to the fact that we worth bid implicit chaos.” The adjacent day, Newsom responded, “Your homicide complaint is virtually DOUBLE California’s.”

Newsom’s comparisons are adjacent to close due to the fact that helium worded his assertions cautiously to notation to the homicide rate. California has much homicides than immoderate state, but it besides has by acold the largest population, and utilizing the complaint – which refers to homicides per 100,000 radical – makes it imaginable to comparison states connected an adjacent footing.

Stop reporting transgression past your transgression complaint volition beryllium lower. So convenient for you. Unfortunately for you, we cognize the truth. https://t.co/AoCNo0FG5f

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 11, 2025

Some Newsom critics replied to his station by arguing that the numbers the politician utilized are unreliable due to the fact that California has immoderate of the lowest rates of reporting crimes to the FBI’s information collectors.

But this statement is simply a reddish herring: Newsom’s governmental bureau confirmed to PolitiFact that his information are from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That means his statistic are not taxable to concerns astir debased reporting rates (a occupation that commentators person exaggerated).

California fares little good against these 3 states erstwhile measuring wide convulsive crime, which includes homicides, rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies.

What does the CDC information show?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes information showing the fig of homicides per authorities arsenic good arsenic the complaint of homicides per 100,000 people. The second metric allows a examination of bigger states to smaller states.

According to 2022 data, the latest available, Alabama ranks 3rd successful the federation for its homicide complaint with 14.9 per 100,000 people. (It trails Mississippi and Louisiana and besides the District of Columbia, which mostly isn’t considered comparable to the 50 states due to the fact that it is fundamentally a metropolis alternatively than a state.)

Arkansas ranks sixth with a complaint of 11.8 homicides per 100,000 people. Oklahoma ranks 20th with a complaint of 8.3 per 100,000.

And California? It ranks 30th with a complaint of 5.9 per 100,000.

Alabama’s complaint is astir 2.5 times higher than California’s rate; Newsom said it was triple. Oklahoma’s complaint is 41 percent higher than California’s; Newsom said it was 40 percent higher. And Arkansas’s complaint is treble California’s, which is what Newsom said.

California’s homicide complaint is little than Alabama’s, Arkansas’s and Oklahoma’s

“The CDC information are precise reliable erstwhile it comes to decease and mortality information due to the fact that these travel straight from coroners’ records and authorities wellness departments,” said Alex R Piquero, a University of Miami criminologist and erstwhile manager of the national Bureau of Justice Statistics. “They are among the astir respected of each wellness information collections.”

Although the CDC’s information are from 2022, the 2023 FBI information amusement the aforesaid wide ranking pattern. The FBI collects information from instrumentality enforcement agencies alternatively than coroners’ offices.

In its statistics, Alabama ranked 3rd among the 50 states with 10.3 homicides per 100,000 people. Arkansas ranked 5th with 9.4 per 100,000, and Oklahoma ranked 16th with 6.1 per 100,000. California ranked 25th with 5 per 100,000.

“There is simply a batch of probe connected the saltation of homicides crossed states successful the United States, and some the CDC and FBI show” that Newsom is mostly accurate, Piquero said.

One method note: In his posts, Newsom flipped backmost and distant betwixt referring to the “homicide” complaint and the “murder” rate. For the CDC data, helium should person exclusively utilized the word “homicide” due to the fact that the CDC doesn’t usage the word “murder”.

What astir convulsive transgression overall?

The information connected convulsive transgression are little favourable for California.

The information the FBI collected for 2023 amusement that Arkansas’s convulsive transgression complaint ranked 4th among the states, astir 620 incidents per 100,000 people. California ranked sixth with 508 per 100,000 people. That was higher than either Oklahoma (15th with 414 per 100,000) and Alabama (19th with 404 per 100,000).

Our ruling

Newsom said California has little homicide rates than Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Data for 2022 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which criminologists see a reliable source, amusement that California has a little homicide complaint than Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma and astir successful the proportions that Newsom said.

Data from 2023 collected by the FBI mostly reflector the CDC data.

Looking astatine convulsive transgression much broadly – a class that includes rape, aggravated battle and robbery successful summation to homicide – California fares little well, notching rates higher than either Oklahoma and Alabama.

The connection is close but needs further information, truthful we complaint the connection Mostly True.