Gun Tracing Data Revealed America's Unexpected Gun Crime Capital

According to Moms Demand Action, a subset of the gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety, gun violence has become the leading cause of death for college-aged individuals (between 18 to 25 years old) within the United States. In reporting from Al Jazeera, Politifact’s Loreben Tuquero breaks down this statement to determine how true it is — and the results are shocking. Ultimately, Politifact determines that the statement is true, though gun-related homicides are not really on the top of the list of gun crime or gun violence leading to death. When gun-related homicides occur in this age group, a portion of these do occur on school grounds, though not all of them. What Politifact found is that a majority of gun-related deaths within this age range are usually suicides or accidents, which may occur when cleaning a gun or playing around with it. Given that guns are involved in a significant amount of college-aged deaths, it’s no surprise that gun crime and gun control are two of the biggest topics in American discourse. (In this southern state, firearm theft is becoming a major problem.)

As gun control legislation has weakened in several states under President Donald Trump, other states have implemented stricter regulations to reduce gun crime and violence. Several areas also have grassroots initiatives to stop violence, such as marching for community action in Hartsville, South Carolina or “Chop It Up” discussions in Montgomery, Alabama designed to reduce youth gun crime rates. Despite these efforts, several cities still struggle with a gun crime epidemic. Here, 24/7 Wall St. determined the top 55 cities across the United States with the highest gun crime rates. To do so, we used firearms trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (the ATF) from 2023, the most up-to-date information available at this time. We included information on the total firearms traced by the ATF in 2023, as well as population sizes and poverty levels sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey and independently verified online. While we determined the estimated gun crime rate per 10,000 people, it’s important to understand that gun tracings only provide an approximation of crimes that occurred. Not all traced guns are linked to crimes, and not all guns used in crimes are traced. However, we attempted to make the numbers as accurate as possible given the data we had.

This previously published article was updated in April 2025 to provide adjusted data for five cities and to take a deeper look at some of the efforts to combat gun crime throughout the country.

Why Gun Crime is an Urgent Issue

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives traced over 400,000 firearms across the 50 states in 2023, suggesting a gun crime rate of about 12.3 incidents for every 10,000 people. Among wealthy, highly developed countries, criminal use of firearms is a uniquely American problem — and according to the ATF, the most common gun-related offenses include robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and homicide. These, as well as other gun crimes, are especially common in certain parts of the country. Gun homicide is also increasingly worrying in the U.S. — 20 people have been killed in Memphis in just a two-week period; 12 people were just shot in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and a shooting at a North Carolina university left six people injured and one dead. Unfortunately, these stories have become par for the course in the United States — and many people no longer bat an eye when hearing about gun violence. If this gun violence is allowed to continue and solutions are now found, many of the cities on this list will most likely suffer from less people moving to the area, less businesses, and more poverty.

Here are the 55 cities nationwide with the highest gun crime rates:

55. Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York | Rochester, New York

Est. gun crime rate in Rochester; 2023: 39.1 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Rochester; 2023: 812
Rochester population: 207,274
Poverty rate: 26.6%

54. Washington, D.C.

Washington+District+of+Columbia | Ghosts of the Capitol

Est. gun crime rate in Washington, D.C.; 2023: 45.8 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Washington, D.C.; 2023: 3,106
Washington, D.C. population: 678,972
Poverty rate: 14.0%

53. Gulfport, Mississippi

Mississippi coastline | Welcome to Mississippi Gulf Coast Sign on Beach

Est. gun crime rate in Gulfport; 2023: 48.8 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Gulfport; 2023: 356
Gulfport population: 72,823
Poverty rate: 24.3%

52. Houston, Texas

Est. gun crime rate in Houston; 2023: 54.7 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Houston; 2023: 12,586
Houston population: 2,314,157
Poverty rate: 19.7%

51. Fort Smith, Arkansas

Est. gun crime rate in Fort Smith; 2023: 54.9 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Fort Smith; 2023: 493
Fort Smith population: 89,770
Poverty rate: 18.3%

50. Augusta, Georgia

Est. gun crime rate in Augusta; 2023: 55.7 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Augusta; 2023: 1,119
Augusta population: 200,884
Poverty rate: 21.1%

49. Topeka, Kansas

Est. gun crime rate in Topeka; 2023: 55.9 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Topeka; 2023: 705
Topeka population: 126,103
Poverty rate: 15.6%

48. Miami, Florida

Est. gun crime rate in Miami; 2023: 56.0 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Miami; 2023: 2,501
Miami population: 446,663
Poverty rate: 19.2%

47. Rapid City, South Dakota

Aerial View of a University in Rapid City, South Dakota during Summer

Est. gun crime rate in Rapid City; 2023: 56.2 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Rapid City; 2023: 432
Rapid City population: 76,836
Poverty rate: 13.3%

46. Camden, New Jersey

Est. gun crime rate in Camden; 2023: 56.8 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Camden; 2023: 406
Camden population: 71,471
Poverty rat: 28.5%

45. Wilmington, Delaware

Aerial view Wilmington Delaware Downtown City Skyline bus station and highways

Est. gun crime rate in Wilmington; 2023: 57.4 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Wilmington; 2023: 408
Wilmington population: 71,124
Poverty rate: 23.2%

44. Indianapolis, Indiana

Est. gun crime rate in Indianapolis; 2023: 57.6 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Indianapolis; 2023: 5,082
Indianapolis population: 882,043
Poverty rate: 15.7%

43. Macon, Georgia

Est. gun crime rate in Macon; 2023: 57.9 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Macon; 2023: 906
Macon population: 156,543
Poverty rate: 24.8%

42. Mesquite, Texas

Est. gun crime rate in Mesquite; 2023: 58.7 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Mesquite; 2023: 873
Mesquite population: 148,848
Poverty rate: 12.4%

41. Wilmington, North Carolina

Est. gun crime rate in Wilmington; 2023: 60.7 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Wilmington; 2023: 720
Wilmington population: 118,578
Poverty rate: 16.3%

40. Newport News, Virginia

Est. gun crime rate in Newport News; 2023: 61.2 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Newport News; 2023: 1,131
Newport News population: 184,774
Poverty rate: 15.1%

39. Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Est. gun crime rate in Winston-Salem; 2023: 62.6 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Winston-Salem; 2023: 1,571
Winston-Salem population: 250,887
Poverty rate: 17.9%

38. Greensboro, North Carolina

Est. gun crime rate in Greensboro; 2023: 62.8 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Greensboro; 2023: 1,874
Greensboro population: 298,564
Poverty rate: 18.4%

37. Hoover, Alabama

Est. gun crime rate in Hoover; 2023: 63.2 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Hoover; 2023: 584
Hoover population: 92,401
Poverty rate: 5.3%

36. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Est. gun crime rate in Milwaukee; 2023: 66.4 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Milwaukee; 2023: 3,781
Milwaukee population: 569,756
Poverty rate: 23.3%

35. Tampa, Florida

Est. gun crime rate in Tampa; 2023: 67.1 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Tampa; 2023: 2,638
Tampa population: 393,389
Poverty rate: 15.9%

34. Chattanooga, Tennessee

Est. gun crime rate in Chattanooga; 2023: 67.2 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Chattanooga; 2023: 1,229
Chattanooga population: 182,832
Poverty rate: 17.6%

33. Las Vegas, Nevada

Est. gun crime rate in Las Vegas; 2023: 67.5 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Las Vegas; 2023: 4,395
Las Vegas population: 650,873
Poverty rate: 14.2%

32. San Bernardino, California

Est. gun crime rate in San Bernardino; 2023: 68.5 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in San Bernardino; 2023: 1,519
San Bernardino population: 221,774
Poverty rate: 19.5%

31. Huntsville, Alabama

Est. gun crime rate in Huntsville; 2023: 69.1 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Huntsville; 2023: 1,513
Huntsville population: 218,814
Poverty rate: 13.8%

30. Cleveland, Ohio

skyline - Cleveland Ohio (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Tim Evanson

Est. gun crime rate in Cleveland; 2023: 69.4 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Cleveland; 2023: 2,551
Cleveland population: 367,523
Poverty rate: 30.8%

29. Shreveport, Louisiana

Est. gun crime rate in Shreveport; 2023: 70.1 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Shreveport; 2023: 1,287
Shreveport population: 183,483
Poverty rate: 23.6%

28. Gary, Indiana

Est. gun crime rate in Gary; 2023: 72.2 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Gary; 2023: 495
Gary population: 68,604
Poverty rate: 32.9%

27. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Est. gun crime rate in Baton Rouge; 2023: 72.7 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Baton Rouge; 2023: 1,627
Baton Rouge population: 223,699
Poverty rate: 25.0%

26. Lake Charles, Louisiana

Est. gun crime rate in Lake Charles; 2023: 73.2 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Lake Charles; 2023: 598
Lake Charles population: 81,679
Poverty rate: 23.2%

25. Richmond, Virginia

Est. gun crime rate in Richmond; 2023: 73.3 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Richmond; 2023: 1,668
Richmond population: 227,595
Poverty rate: 18.8%

24. South Bend, Indiana

Est. gun crime rate in South Bend; 2023: 75.0 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in South Bend; 2023: 772
South Bend population: 102,866
Poverty rate: 22.6%

23. Mobile, Alabama

Est. gun crime rate in Mobile; 2023: 75.5 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Mobile; 2023: 1,398
Mobile population: 185,097
Poverty rate: 18.9%

22. Knoxville, Tennessee

Est. gun crime rate in Knoxville; 2023: 76.9 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Knoxville; 2023: 1,490
Knoxville population: 193,721
Poverty rate: 20.5%

21. Cincinnati, Ohio

Est. gun crime rate in Cincinnati; 2023: 76.9 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Cincinnati; 2023: 2,383
Cincinnati population: 309,595
Poverty rate: 24.5%

20. New Orleans, Louisiana

Est. gun crime rate in New Orleans; 2023: 77.5 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in New Orleans; 2023: 2,915
New Orleans population: 376,035
Poverty rate: 22.6%

19. Southaven, Mississippi

Est. gun crime rate in Southaven; 2023: 77.9 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Southaven; 2023: 433
Fort Myers population: 55,531
Poverty rate: 12.3%

18. Fort Myers, Florida

Est. gun crime rate in Fort Myers; 2023: 78.2 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Fort Myers; 2023: 717
Fort Myers population: 91,730
Poverty rate: 16.8%

17. Atlanta, Georgia

Est. gun crime rate in Atlanta; 2023: 81.7 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Atlanta; 2023: 4,080
Atlanta population: 499,287
Poverty rate: 17.9%

16. Birmingham, Alabama

Downtown Birmingham, Alabama by James Willamor

Downtown Birmingham, Alabama (BY-SA 2.0) by James Willamor

Est. gun crime rate in Birmingham; 2023: 84.4 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Birmingham; 2023: 1,682
Birmingham population: 199,322
Poverty rate: 25.2%

15. Chino Hills, California

Chino Hills State Park by Person-with-No Name

Chino Hills State Park (CC BY 2.0) by Person-with-No Name

Est. gun crime rate in Chino Hills; 2023: 85.4 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Chino Hills; 2023: 666
Chino Hills population: 78,024
Poverty rate: 6.9%

14. West Palm Beach, Florida

Est. gun crime rate in West Palm Beach; 2023: 85.5 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in West Palm Beach; 2023: 1,022
West Palm Beach population: 119,508
Poverty rate: 14.8%

13. Fargo, North Dakota

Est. gun crime rate in Fargo; 2023: 86.3 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Fargo; 2023: 1,114
Fargo population: 129,064
Poverty rate: 12.8%

12. Memphis, Tennessee

Beale Street Memphis Morning by Mobilus In Mobili

Beale Street Memphis Morning (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Mobilus In Mobili

Est. gun crime rate in Memphis; 2023: 91.6 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Memphis; 2023: 5,760
Memphis population: 629,063
Poverty rate: 22.5%

11. Flint, Michigan

Est. gun crime rate in Flint; 2023: 93.0 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Flint; 2023: 752
Flint population: 80,835
Poverty rate: 34.4%

10. Greenville, North Carolina

Est. gun crime rate in Greenville; 2023: 95.9 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Greenville; 2023: 849
Greenville population: 88,540
Poverty rate: 24.5%

9. Dayton, Ohio

Est. gun crime rate in Dayton; 2023: 96.8 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Dayton; 2023: 1,324
Dayton population: 136,741
Poverty rate: 27.1%

8. Detroit, Michigan

Est. gun crime rate in Detroit; 2023: 97.4 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in Detroit; 2023: 6,200
Detroit population: 636,644
Poverty rate: 31.5%

7. North Charleston, South Carolina

Est. gun crime rate in North Charleston; 2023: 104.4 for every 10,000 people
Total firearms traced by the ATF in North Charleston; 2023: 1,226
North Charleston population: 117,460
Poverty rate: 15.5%