Special Report

Homicide is Soaring in the Milwaukee-Waukesha Metro Area

Samuel Stebbins

Published: October 10, 2021 8:00 am

Last Updated: October 13, 2021 9:23 am

Homicides are rising at a record pace in the United States. According to a recent FBI report, there were a total of 21,570 murders committed in 2020, the most of any year in the last two and a half decades and up nearly 30% from 2019 — the largest annual increase on record.

The spike in homicides came during a tumultuous year. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and left millions of Americans out of work. Footage of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer rattled confidence in American law enforcement and sparked nationwide protests. Firearms sales soared, and tens of millions of new guns proliferated across communities nationwide. Here is a look at the states where gun sales are surging.

Some experts speculate that each of these factors likely played a role in rising homicide rates nationwide. While it may be years before the precise causal factors are identified, many U.S. cities are bearing the brunt of the rash of deadly violence. In metropolitan areas across the country, the increase in homicides last year eclipsed the national surge — in some cases, many times over.

There were 206 homicides reported in the Milwaukee metro area in 2020, up from 111 the previous year. The 85.6% spike in murders is the second highest among large Wisconsin metro areas and 24th highest nationwide.

The majority of homicides in Milwaukee proper in 2020 were committed in an area that, due to redlining and other racist housing policies, is both poor and predominantly Black. Some local officials connect the rising violence in the area to an influx of firearms and increased tensions between police and the communities they serve.

All data in this story is at the metro area level from the FBI. Only metro areas with populations of at least 250,000 residents and at least one homicide in 2019 were considered.