Former Congressman Steve King (R-IA) asks:
Which city contains the most violent white neighborhood in America?
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) February 28, 2023
Any suggestions?
I’m guessing rural coal-mining McDowell County in West Virginia, which averaged a homicide death rate of 14.8 per 100,000 non-Hispanic whites from 1999-2020, far ahead of the second worst county in WV, Mercer at 8.2. McDowell has been notorious for white dysfunction since JFK went there to announce he was going to do something about Appalachian poverty.
Yes, among counties with at least 20 whites dying by homicide over the 22 years 1999-2020, McDowell WV is #1 with a bullet with a white homicide death rate of 14.8 on 64 homicides with an average population of just under 20,000:
| McDowell County, WV | 14.8 | 64 | 19,677 |
| Grundy County, TN | 12.1 | 36 | 13,485 |
| Washington County, MS | 11.5 | 38 | 15,085 |
| Dixie County, FL | 11.3 | 34 | 13,647 |
| Clay County, KY | 11.2 | 51 | 20,635 |
| Sierra County, NM | 11.1 | 20 | 8,222 |
| Marlboro County, SC | 10.9 | 28 | 11,693 |
| Marion County, MS | 10.7 | 40 | 17,016 |
| Robeson County, NC | 10.3 | 83 | 36,567 |
| Leslie County, KY | 10.2 | 25 | 11,131 |
| Choctaw County, OK | 9.5 | 21 | 10,072 |
| McCurtain County, OK | 9.4 | 47 | 22,806 |
| Grenada County, MS | 9.2 | 25 | 12,409 |
| Williamsburg County, SC | 9.2 | 22 | 10,833 |
| Jasper County, SC | 9.1 | 20 | 9,961 |
| Hendry County, FL | 8.9 | 28 | 14,301 |
| Concordia Parish, LA | 8.9 | 23 | 11,693 |
| Perry County, KY | 8.8 | 53 | 27,240 |
| Pemiscot County, MO | 8.8 | 25 | 12,847 |
| Washington County, FL | 8.7 | 36 | 18,844 |
| Morehouse Parish, LA | 8.7 | 28 | 14,622 |
| Cleburne County, AL | 8.6 | 26 | 13,769 |
| Wyandotte County, KS | 8.5 | 136 | 72,664 |
Most of these are mostly white, so most of these white homicide death rates are close to the white murder rate, but Wyandotte County is Kansas City, Kansas.
Among counties with populations of 100,000 or more whites:
| County | City | White homicide death rate | White homicide deaths | White population |
| St. Louis city, MO | St. Louis city | 7.4 | 229 | 140,234 |
| Orleans Parish, LA | New Orleans | 7.0 | 180 | 117,515 |
| Bronx County, NY | The Bronx | 6.8 | 243 | 162,583 |
| Mobile County, AL | Mobile | 6.6 | 355 | 244,669 |
| Mohave County, AZ | Lake Havasu | 6.3 | 215 | 155,508 |
| Baltimore city, MD | Baltimore city | 6.2 | 247 | 180,860 |
| Kanawha County, WV | Charleston | 5.9 | 224 | 171,732 |
| Caddo Parish, LA | Shreveport | 5.9 | 157 | 121,711 |
| Pulaski County, AR | Little Rock | 5.8 | 276 | 217,225 |
| Duval County, FL | Jacksonville | 5.8 | 641 | 504,684 |
| Anderson County, SC | Anderson | 5.7 | 186 | 147,060 |
| Jackson County, MO | Kansas City | 5.7 | 555 | 440,558 |
| Harrison County, MS | Biloxi | 5.7 | 167 | 132,768 |
| Cumberland County, NC | Fayetteville | 5.7 | 193 | 154,339 |
| Oklahoma County, OK | OKC | 5.5 | 552 | 452,176 |
| Marion County, IN | Marion | 5.5 | 678 | 558,283 |
| Nueces County, TX | Corpus Cristi | 5.5 | 137 | 113,766 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Eureka | 5.4 | 125 | 106,197 |
| Bay County, FL | Panama City | 5.3 | 159 | 135,312 |
| Jefferson County, TX | Beaumont | 5.3 | 134 | 115,264 |
| Jefferson Parish, LA | Metairie | 5.2 | 296 | 257,231 |
| Harris County, TX | Houston | 5.2 | 1621 | 1,411,864 |
| Tulsa County, OK | Tulsa | 5.2 | 475 | 416,248 |
| Kern County, CA | Bakersfield | 5.2 | 373 | 328,572 |
| Clark County, NV | Las Vegas | 5.1 | 1055 | 947,810 |
These appear to be a mixture of places like the City of St. Louis (which is distinct from St. Louis County) with large black populations, so many of the white victims were victims of blacks, and fairly white places like Kanawha County, WV, which was 90% white in 2000, but has more ornery, rootin’-tootin’ whites.
Here are states ranked by non-Hispanic white homicide deaths (not homicide offenses) over 2018-2021 from the CDC cause-of-death database:
| Residence State | White homicide death rate |
| Mississippi | 6.3 |
| New Mexico | 6.1 |
| Oklahoma | 5.5 |
| Arkansas | 5.4 |
| Alabama | 5.2 |
| West Virginia | 5.2 |
| Louisiana | 4.9 |
| Nevada | 4.8 |
| South Carolina | 4.7 |
| Kentucky | 4.4 |
| Missouri | 4.3 |
| Tennessee | 4.2 |
| Alaska | 4.1 |
| Texas | 3.8 |
| Indiana | 3.7 |
| Florida | 3.5 |
| Georgia | 3.4 |
| Montana | 3.4 |
| Arizona | 3.2 |
| Kansas | 3.2 |
| North Carolina | 3.2 |
| Colorado | 3.1 |
| Wyoming | 3.1 |
| California | 2.9 |
| Ohio | 2.9 |
| Oregon | 2.8 |
| Hawaii | 2.6 |
| Virginia | 2.6 |
| Washington | 2.6 |
| Maryland | 2.3 |
| Pennsylvania | 2.3 |
| Michigan | 2.2 |
| Delaware | 2.1 |
| North Dakota | 2.1 |
| Illinois | 2.0 |
| Idaho | 1.9 |
| Iowa | 1.9 |
| South Dakota | 1.9 |
| Utah | 1.8 |
| Vermont | 1.8 |
| Nebraska | 1.7 |
| Wisconsin | 1.7 |
| New Hampshire | 1.6 |
| Rhode Island | 1.6 |
| Maine | 1.4 |
| Connecticut | 1.3 |
| Minnesota | 1.3 |
| New York | 1.2 |
| New Jersey | 1.1 |
| Massachusetts | 1.0 |
I’d guess that New Mexico has more white perps than Mississippi. On the other hand, it’s been argued that Mexican cartels are more active in New Mexico than in other border states like California and Texas.
So there is a ratio of around 5 to 1 between the whites in the most homicidal states and the least. That’s a big difference.
