THE STUDY ASSUMED THAT THE SOCIAL VALUE OF ANY HUMAN LIFE IS NOT INFINITE. PRESENT VALUE OF THE TOTAL FUTURE EARNING POTENTIAL WAS DISCOUNTED AT A SPECIFIC INTEREST RATE (5 PERCENT). AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY FOR PERSONS THE SAME AGE AS THE VICTIM WAS USED TO ESTIMATE THE REMAINING LIFE SPAN. NATIONAL DATA ON MEDIAN INCOME BY AGE GROUPS WERE USED TO APPROXIMATE THE EXPECTED INCOME STREAM. THE STUDY POPULATION INCLUDED 53 WHITE MALES AND 23 WHITE FEMALES WHO WERE HOMICIDE VICTIMS IN THE METROPOLITAN PHOENIX, ARIZ., AREA DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1976. VICTIMS' AGE DISTRIBUTION WAS SIMILAR TO THE NATIONAL HOMICIDE VICTIM AGE DISTRIBUTION. NATIONALLY, 75.5 PERCENT OF THE WHITE HOMICIDE VICTIMS WERE MALE, COMPARED TO 69.7 PERCENT IN PHOENIX. RESULTS SHOWED THAT AN ADDITIONAL HOMICIDE IN PHOENIX FOR THE STUDY PERIOD WOULD PRODUCE A NET LOSS OF $120,648. APPLYING THIS RESULT TO NATIONAL HOMICIDE DATA INDICATED THAT THE NATIONAL SOCIAL COST OF HOMICIDE WAS AN ESTIMATED $2 BILLION. THIS WAS HIGHER THAN THE COSTS FOR ROBBERY ($142 MILLION), BURGLARY ($1.4 BILLION), AND LARCENY ($1.2 BILLION). USING THE RISK OF BEING A HOMICIDE VICTIM, THE DATA ALSO SHOWED THAT THE RATIONAL INDIVIDUAL WOULD SPEND ABOUT $12 TO PREVENT AN ADDITIONAL HOMICIDE. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH SHOULD EXPLORE HOMICIDE COSTS FOR BLACK VICTIMS, OTHER ECONOMIC COSTS OF HOMICIDE, AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOMICIDE VICTIMS AND THE GENERAL POPULATION. TABLES, A GRAPH, AND A REFERENCE LIST ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)