Most murder victims ages 12–17 were black

Of the 24,950 juveniles ages 12–17 who were murdered between 1980 and 2000, 12,880 (52%) were black and 11,270 (46%) were white. The remaining 620 murder victims were American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, or Pacific Islander.³

The large change in the overall murder rates for juvenile victims ages 12–17 between 1980 and 2000 is reflected in the rate for black juveniles. The murder rate for black juveniles ages 12–17 increased 163% between 1980 and 1993, reaching a peak rate of 31.6 murders for every 100,000 blacks in this age group. In comparison, the murder rate for white victims in the 12–17 age group increased 49% during the same time period, to peak at 4.4 murders per 100,000 in 1993.

The murder rate for black victims decreased more than the rate for whites between 1993 and 2000 (64% versus 51%). Even with the greater decline, the 2000 murder rate for black victims ages 12–17(11.4) was still more than five times greater than that for white victims in the same age group (2.2). The 2000 murder rate for white victims ages 12–17 was lower than the rate in any year during the 1980s and 1990s, while the black rate was substantially above its lowest level in the period (9.4 in 1984).

In 2000, 46% of juvenile murder victims were black, compared with 53% in 1993 and 40% in 1984

• Between the low year of 1984 and the peak year of 1993, the number of murdered white juveniles increased 49%, the number of murdered black juveniles increased 150%, and murders of juveniles of other races increased 129%.

Data source: Analysis of the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980–2000 [machine-readable data files].

The murder rate for black juveniles peaked in 1993 at about seven times the murder rate for white juveniles

• In 2000, the murder rates for both white juveniles and juveniles of other races were at their lowest levels in the 1980 to 2000 period. In the same year, the murder rate for black juveniles was just 4% above its lowest value in the 1980 to 2000 period, but still four times the rate for white juveniles.

Data source: Analysis of the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980–2000 [machine-readable data files] and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.[See data source note for detail.]

³ Total based on unrounded numbers. The race was unknown for 190 victims.

Trends in the Murder of Juveniles: 1980–2000	OJJDP Bulletin • September 2004