SAN ANTONIO — Crime numbers from last year show that violence in some South Texas border cities continues to be below the national average.
The numbers come from the FBI's Uniform Crime report from 2022. Back in October, the FBI released detailed data on over 11 million criminal offenses across the United States.
Those numbers show the average murder rate across the country was 6.3 murders per 100,000 people. Comparatively, for border communities like Laredo and El Paso, it was less than 5.
The bar graph below compares the murder rates of border cities, including Rio Grande City, Laredo, El Paso, McAllen and Brownsville, with other cities in the U.S, with much higher murder rates. The numbers come from the FBI, but the graph was compiled by the office of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX District 28).
The border towns also had some of the lowest rates of murder among Texas cities in 2022. The below graph shows murder Rio Grande City, Laredo, McAllen, El Paso and Brownsville compared to other Texas cities. San Antonio has the second-highest murder rate in Texas.
When it comes to violent crimes in general, Laredo and Rio Grande City both had lower rates of violent crime than the national average per 100,000 people in 2022. The national average is 380.7 per 100,000 people. Comparatively, Laredo, Texas, had 316.8 violent crimes for every 100,000 residents, while Rio Grande City, Texas, had 146.5.
According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crime is composed of four offenses: Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses that involve force or threat of force.