Alaska is a state that shatters the myth that urbanization causes higher homicide rates. There are no dense urban areas in the state. The consolidated city-county of Anchorage has 288k people. Over 11% are active duty military personnel at Joint Base Elmendorf – Richardson JBER. The rest of the state is only 445k people.
While many states saw huge homicide rates spikes in 2020, primarily in the second half of the year after nationwide BLM/Antifa rioting started, Alaska had a big spike in 2019.
In 2019, Alaska had its highest homicide rate since 1987. Then the 2021 rate was the lowest since 2014. In 2022, homicides were up again, with Anchorage seeing a big spike.
Alaska Homicides:
2018: 47 (737k, 6.4 per 100k)
2019: 70 (734k, 9.5 per 100k)
2020: 48 (731k, 6.6 per 100k)
2021: 42 (733k, 5.7 per 100k)
2022: 66* (734k, 9.0 per 100k)
*estimate based on CDC date
Anchorage Homicides:
2018: 29 (291k, 10.0 per 100k)
2019: 35 (289k, 12.1 per 100k)
2020: 18 (287k, 6.3 per 100k)
2021: 19 (288k, 6.6 per 100k
2022: 30 ( 287k, 10.4 per 100k)
Alaska Demographics:
White: 58.8%
Alaskan Native: 15.7%
Asian: 6.7%
Latino: 7.7%
Other Mixed Race: 5.7%
Black: 3.7%
Pacific Islander: 1.7%
Notes: In Alaskan homicide data, all Latinos (and probably others) are counted as White. Also, no one is listed as a Pacific Islander victim or offender during the entire three years. While Alaska DPS has a Pacific Islander category, the local police departments may not actually use it and classify all Pacific Islanders as Asian.
2021 Homicides Victims:
White/Latino: 53.7%
Black: 2.4%
Alaska Native: 39.0%
Asian: 4.9%
Pacific Islander: 0.0%
2021 Known Homicide Suspects:
White/Latino: 41.0%
Black: 10.3%
Alaska Natives: 48.7%
Asian: 0.0%
Pacific Islander: 0.0%
2020 Homicides Victims:
White/Latino: 27.7%
Black: 12.8%
Alaska Native: 46.8%
Asian: 12.8%
Pacific Islander: 0.0%
2020 Known Homicide Suspects:
White/Latino: 33.3%
Black: 13.3%
Alaska Natives: 35.6%
Asian: 17.8%
Pacific Islander: 0.0%
2019 Homicides Victims:
White/Latino: 43.3%
Black: 11.4%
Alaska Native: 37.1%
Asian: 7.1%
Pacific Islander: 0.0%
2019 Known Homicide Suspects:
White/Latino: 40.0%
Black: 12.3%
Alaska Natives: 43.1%
Asian: 4.6%
Pacific Islander: 0.0%