Baltimore’s 2026 homicide rate may be lowest in 50 years: report

Baltimore, Maryland is on course to finish the year with the lowest homicide rate the city has seen in five decades, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis of crime data.

In the city with a reputation for high crime rates, there were only 72 homicides, or nine a month on average, in 2026 through August. If that rate continues, that will be 108 homicides, which would be far down from 136 of 2025. Last year’s mark of 136 was one of the lowest numbers of homicides in a year that Baltimore has seen since starting to track the figures in 1970.

In terms of homicide rate per capita, there were 24 per 100,000 residents in 2025. That is only the 11th time the figure has fallen below 30 per 100,000 residents since 1970, and the first time since 1985.

The record low homicide rate took place in 1977, where there were 171 killings in the city’s population of 829,000 at the time, which is around 20.6 homicides per 100,000 people.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement last week, “Our progress this summer is a testament to all of these individuals — and to the importance of the proven, data- and community-driven strategies that are delivering real results.”

However, the decline in homicides mirrors a national decline in crime overall across the nation. Last year, the FBI found that there was an 18 percent drop in homicides in 2025. A midyear analysis in 2026 also shows that homicide was down 18 percent in comparison to the same timeframe in 2025, according to FBI data.

The drop in crime across the nation also comes as the Trump administration has been cracking down on the “worst of the worst” illegal immigrants who have been committing crimes in the US. Additionally, the Trump administration has conducted law enforcement crackdown blitzes across the nation in different cities such as Washington, DC and others with help from the National Guard.