The Hate Crime Rate in Every State

From terror attacks to natural disasters, U.S. history is replete with examples of Americans of different backgrounds unifying in the face of hardship. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic will likely not be remembered as such an occasion. The coronavirus, which originated in China, ushered in a surge of violence directed at Asian Americans at a time when hate crimes were already at their highest level in over a decade. 

According to the FBI, hate crimes are those motivated by prejudice and committed against victims based on their race, color, religion, or national origin, as well as based on biases of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or gender. There were 8,559 such incidents reported in 2019, and over half of them were cases of assault or intimidation. Here is a look at America’s most peaceful and violent states. 

Using data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the reported incidence of hate crimes in every state. In some states, hate crime rates are more than double the national rate of 2.6 incidents per 100,000 people.

It is important to note that hate crime reporting practices are inconsistent across the country, and some states have far more comprehensive reporting than others. As a result, states with higher hate crime rates typically have dozens of agencies tracking and reporting hate crimes across the entire population, while many of the states with low hate crime rates have only a handful of reporting agencies that cover small segments of the population. 

Alabama, for example, had no reported hate crimes in 2019. However, there are only two agencies, covering less than 2% of the population, participating in hate crime reporting in the entire state. Additionally, many of the states with limited reporting are also home to a high concentration of active hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazi organizations. Here is a look at the states with the most hate groups.

Click here to see the reported incidence of hate crimes in every state
Click here to see our detailed methodology

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