June 13, 2025

Alabama Has Nearly 3X The Homicide Rate of California

By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News

June 13, 2025

MONTGOMERY Ala. US Senator Tommy Tuberville and California Governor Newsom have been involved exchanging heated barbs back and forth for several days with the main topic being the use of the National Guard and the Marines to combat protesters in California.

Tuberville stated on X that California’s crime and murder rate is one of the country’s highest and that caused the California Governor to immediately reply on X that, Alabama’s murder rate has 3X the homicide rate of California” and of course, we had to immediately investigate that claim.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data Alabama’s homicide rate is indeed inching closer to that 3X times mark.
In 2022, Alabama’s homicide rate was 10.9 per 100,000, while California’s was 4.8 per 100,000. This means that Alabama’s rate is approximately 2.27 times that of California, however, those numbers continue to increase as Alabama is currently seeing a higher number of homicides in its most populated areas.
In 2024, Birmingham experienced a significant increase in homicides, with 153 recorded deaths, marking the highest number of homicides in the city’s history. This resulted in a homicide rate of 75.78 per 100,000 residents. Bhamwiki reported 81.5 homicides per 100,000 residents
Of those, 16 homicides were linked to one suspect, Damien McDaniel.

In 2024, the city of Mobile, Alabama, also experienced an increase in homicide cases, with a total of 37 homicides reported. This represents a 12% increase compared to the previous year. While other violent crimes saw a decrease, homicides were up.
Montgomery recorded 61 homicides in 2024, a decrease of 14 compared to the 75 homicides in 2023. The clearance rate (percentage of cases resulting in an arrest) was 69% in both years. While homicides have decreased, other crimes like robberies, burglaries, and car thefts have seen increases in Montgomery.

While the City of Huntsville is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, it saw just 18 homicides in 2024, the lowest number since 2020. Despite a 3% population increase, the city experienced a 3% decrease in overall crime and a 39% decrease in violent crime between 2019 and 2024. Huntsville Police Chief Kirk Giles stated that they don’t take joy in the low homicide number, as 18 is still too many, and they will continue to work on keeping these statistics down.

Many of these homicides involve juveniles as both the offenders and the victims. Gangs as well as easy access to firearms by criminals and the willingness by many to settle minor disputes with deadly force all contribute to the increase of murders in Alabama and nationwide.