Firearm deaths and injuries nationwide dropped for a third straight year in 2024 after reaching record levels of gun violence during the pandemic. And the trend seems to be continuing this year.

In the country's largest cities, fatal shootings dropped 27% in 2024, according to an analysis of over 1,000 U.S. cities from Magic Wade, Ph.D., a researcher and professor at the University of Illinois Springfield.

In other words, in excess of 500 fewer people were killed with a gun across these 13 cities in 2024 compared to the previous year, Wade wrote in her analysis.

Gun murders declined the most in Jacksonville, Fla. (-100%), Philadelphia (-69%) and Phoenix (-47%). Other cities that saw large drops include San Jose (-38%), Dallas (-31%) and Columbus, Ohio (-24%). Some cities experienced only modest drops: Houston (-4%), San Diego (-3%) and Chicago (-2%).

Chart: Magic M. Wade, Ph.D. Source: Gun Violence Archive. Created with Datawrapper.

But some cities aren't following the trend, Wade found. For example, Charlotte, N.C., was the only city where gun murders rose 17% in 2024 over the previous year.

Gun deaths spiked in Charlotte before the pandemic, according to Wade's analysis. Fatalities doubled in 2019 compared to the previous year. They increased again, as they did in most other U.S. cities. The city hit an all-time high in 2024 with 124 firearm homicides, compared to 89 in 2023.

Overall, however, Wade's findings show a major shift after gun deaths and injuries hit unprecedented levels in 2020 and 2021.

"While some cities are lagging, most are making incredible strides in improving public safety and saving lives," Wade wrote.

Wade also analyzed firearm deaths and injuries in 2024 for mid-sized cities. Overall, most of them did better in 2024.

For example, 24 mid-sized cities (with populations of 250,000 to 500,000) all saw drops in their firearm homicide rates. New Orleans experienced the biggest drop at -85%. The cities with the next most significant drops were Cleveland (-50%), Oakland (-33%) and Greensboro, N.C. (-26%).

The Trace conducted a similar analysis for 2024 and had similar findings. Both Wade and The Trace used the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks gun violence.

Nationwide, excluding suicides, there were 16,576 firearm deaths in 2024, dropping 12% from 2023's total of nearly 19,000. Those deaths include murders, unintentional shootings and homicides deemed legally justified.

Mass shootings, defined as incidents where at least four people were shot minus the shooter, also fell in 2024, The Trace found. There were 499 mass shootings in 2024, which was 24% less than 2023's total of 659.

Gun sales also declined in 2024 after surging to record highs in 2020. Americans bought 13.6 million guns last year, compared to 15.9 million in 2023.

So far in 2025

Wade has also been examining the data so far for 2025 and found that the decline is continuing.

Memorial Day weekend both kicks off the summer season and the time of year when shootings start to spike. Researchers tend to use the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day as a bellwether for that year's firearm violence.

Wade found that Memor i al Day gun violence has plummeted since 2021. Firearm fatalities have fallen by 56% in the last five years. And from 2024 to 2025, gun deaths dropped 16%.

Many cities' Memorial Day weekend violence stayed the same from last year to this year. But in 250 cities, the numbers dropped, Wade found.

In many of the big and mid-sized cities in her analysis, there were substantial decreases in firearm deaths and injuries. She found that Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, St. Paul, Cleveland, Birmingham and Lansing all had fewer gun violence incidents during the holiday weekend.

She looked closely at how Chicago improved. She showed how shootings in 2014 were quite low in the city, how they spiked around the pandemic and dropped back down again in 2025.

"If Memorial Day Weekend is an indicator, 2025 is on pace to be one of Chicago's safest years in recent history," she wrote.

But some cities had increases, Wade found, including Phoenix, Albuquerque, Milwaukee, Colorado Springs and Little River, S.C. The rate was stable in some cities, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and Minneapolis.

Resources

• The Gun Violence Archive is a nonprofit that provides comprehensive and detailed data on gun violence incidents in the U.S., and a resource I've used numerous times in my reporting.
• Real-Time Crime Index "seeks to aid the need for a faster understanding of national, state, and local crime trends." The Index aggregates preliminary monthly crime data from hundreds of local police departments to create a comprehensive and up-to-date view of U.S. crime trends.
• National Violent Death Reporting System, also called NVDRS, attempts to provide a national picture of violent deaths in the U.S. via states' reports on their own violent deaths. All 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico submit data to NVDRS, which is managed by the CDC.