JD Vance says Charlotte murder rate rivals ‘poorest countries.’ Stats say otherwise
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday certain American cities have worse murder rates than “the very worst third-world cities in the world.” Reported crime statistics show otherwise.
Vance spoke Wednesday at an event in Concord where he emphasized the Trump administration’s tough-on-crime approach, called for more government support for local police and framed the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte as a result of Democratic policies. He said people do not feel safe in American cities.
“That’s not a joke. You go to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, you go to some of the poorest countries all over the world, even those countries have a better murder rate than Washington, D.C., or some of the major American cities,” Vance told the crowd. “Some of them have better murder rates than Charlotte, North Carolina. That’s a disgrace.”
How bad is Charlotte murder rate?
Vance’s examples don’t match the numbers. Haiti’s homicide rate is far higher than Charlotte’s or the nation’s capital city.
Charlotte reported 111 homicides in 2024, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. With nearly 944,000 residents, that works out to about 12 homicides for every 100,000 people.
Washington D.C.’s homicide rate was 27.3 per 100,000 people in 2024, according to the Washington Post’s homicide tracker and the population of around 672,000.
By contrast, Haiti had about 5,600 killings in 2024, according to the United Nations. That equals a national rate of 48 per 100,000 people. Much of that violence is concentrated in Port-au-Prince, though official statistics for the city are scarce.
Other cities around Charlotte’s population size also report lower homicide rates than Haiti. Indianapolis, Indiana had a homicide rate of 23.8 per 100,000 people in 2024; Austin, Texas had a homicide rate of 7.3 per 100,000 in 2024; Columbus, Ohio has a homicide rate of 13.3 per 100,000 in 2024; and Jacksonville, Florida had a homicide rate of 7 per 100,000 in 2024. Indianapolis and Austin cover about the same land area as Charlotte while Columbus is slightly smaller. Jacksonville is consolidated with its county and covers a much larger land area.
Vance also said Democrats have control of cities with violent crime rates that are worse than in Mogadishu, Somalia.
“It’s crazy… and they say, ‘No, no, no, we don’t want Donald Trump to come in,’” Vance said. “Well excuse me, if you don’t need the federal help, then why is your murder rate so terrible in the first place? You do need the help.”
Crime statistics for Mogadishu are underreported. In 2019, the World Health Organization reported a homicide rate of 5.4 per 100,000 people for Somalia. However, the U.S Department of State has issued a “do not travel,” notice for Somalia due to “crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health, kidnapping, piracy, and lack of availability of routine consular services.”
