Portland Homicide Rates:
1971: 15 (384k, 3.9 per 100k)
1987: 66 (450k, 14.7 per 100k) – Former homicide rate record until 2022
1993: 54 (498k, 10.8 per 100k) – Worst spike in the 90s
2012: 25 (605K, 4.1 per 100k)
2013: 16 (610k, 2.6 per 100k)
2014: 26 (621k, 4.2 per 100k)
2019: 35 (654k, 5.4 per 100k)
2020: 57 (653k, 9.0 per 100k)
2021: 88* (641k, 13.7 per 100k)
2022: 97* (646k, 15.01 per 100k) – New record for highest rate
2023: 42 during Jan-June vs 43 in 2022
Notes: Portland officially changed the rules in late 2019 to make it more strict what counts as a homicide. Some homicides counted in pre-2019 totals would not be counted today. For decades the 1987 record was always reported as 66. Around 2020 or 2021, the sloppy Portland local media started rounding it up to 70.
* Some Portland media are now reporting that there were 90 or 92 homicides in 2021. The official number from the police and state data is 88. For 2022, the official number from police is 97, while local media are reporting as many as 101. We have found the media in Portland to be very sloppy in the homicide numbers they report. Also, some media in the area includes certain justifiable self-defense shootings as homicides to suit certain political narratives.
Oregon State Homicides:
1986: 178 (2,724k, 6.5 per 100k) – Record for highest rate
1994: 150 ( 3,087k, 4.9 per 100k) – Worst spike in the 90s
2013: 82 (3,928, 2.1 per 100k)
2019: 116 (4,216k, 2.8 per 100k)
2020: 125 (4,242k, 2.9 per 100k
2021: 188 (4,240k, 4.4 per 100k) – Highest rate since 1994
2022: 182* (4,240k, 4.3 per 100k)
* This number could still rise. CDC data suggest there was a small increase in 2022.
For whatever reason, Oregon had a wild spike in homicides in 1986 and 1987.
Percentage of Oregon homicides occurring in Portland:
1987: 43.1% – Former record for highest Portland homicide rate
2013: 19.5%
2019: 30.2%
2020: 45.6%
2021: 49.3%
2022: 51.6% – New record for highest Portland rate
Portland is currently about 15% of the population of the state!
Oregon 2021 Homicides (data submitted to the FBI):
Statewide Victims:
White or Latino: 73.3%
Black: 23.3%
Asian: 1.1%
Hawaiian: 1.7%
American Indian: 5.6%
Statewide Known Suspects:
White or Latino: 73.4%
Black: 22.8%
Asian: 1.9%
American Indian: 1.9%
Portland Victims:
White or Latino: 54.3%
Black: 39.5%
Asian: 2.5%
Hawaiian: 2.5%
American Indian: 1.2%
Portland Known Suspects:
White or Latino: 55.1%
Black: 44.9%
Oregon 2020 Homicides (data submitted to the FBI):
Statewide Victims:
White or Latino: 77.3%
Black: 21.8%
Asian: 0.8%
Statewide Known Suspects:
White or Latino: 75.7%
Black: 20.4%
American Indian: 3.9%
Portland Victims:
White or Latino: 55.8%
Black: 42.3%
American Indian: 1.9%
Portland Known Suspects:
White or Latino: 56.8%
Black: 43.2%
According to the US Census, Blacks make up 2.3% of Oregon and 5.6% of Portland.
During the past ten years, 42.8% of all known suspects in Portland have been Black. The trend is going upward.
