Number of people shot to death by the police in the United States from 2017 to 2026, by race
On average, police in the United States shoot and kill more than 1,000 people every year, a figure that has been growing steadily since systematic tracking began. The Washington Post launched its Fatal Force database in 2015, after an investigation found that the FBI's official data undercounted police killings by more than half.
Local police departments are not required to report fatal shootings to the federal government, creating a data gap that the Washington Post and Mapping Police Violence both work to fill through independent research. In 2025, there were only six days in the entire year without a recorded police killing in the United States.
The racial breakdown of fatal police shootings reveals a significant and persistent disparity. While White Americans represent the largest number of people killed in absolute terms (reflecting their majority population share), Black Americans are shot at more than twice the rate per million when population size is accounted for.
Black Americans represent approximately 13.4% of the U.S. population but approximately 22-23% of all fatal police shootings. This disparity has been consistent across all years of data collection. The broader context of racial equity and economic inequality in America is analyzed in our U.S. millionaires and wealth analysis.
- White — largest in absolute numbers: White Americans account for the highest single-race count each year, reflecting their majority share of the U.S. population (~60%). In 2024, approximately 450 White Americans were shot by police — roughly 38% of the total. However, when adjusted for population size, White Americans are shot at the lowest rate of any tracked racial group (2.4 per million).
- Black — highest rate per capita: 248 Black Americans were confirmed killed by police in 2024 (Statista confirmed). Black Americans account for approximately 22% of all fatal police shootings while representing only 13.4% of the total U.S. population — meaning they are killed at a disproportionately higher rate than any other tracked group. Rate: 6.1 per million per year.
- Hispanic — third largest group: Approximately 190-200 Hispanic Americans were shot by police in 2024. Hispanic Americans represent approximately 18% of the population but approximately 17% of fatal shootings — roughly proportional, though their rate per million (2.8) is slightly higher than the White rate (2.4).
- Other: Includes Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Native Americans face a disproportionately high shooting rate — approximately 3.9x more likely to be fatally shot than White Americans according to peer-reviewed research. The "Other" category includes approximately 50-80 people per year.
- Unknown: A growing portion of fatal police shooting records do not have a confirmed race recorded. This has increased over time as the database has grown and some cases remain under investigation. In 2024, approximately 225-230 victims were categorized as Unknown.
Fatal Police Shootings in the U.S. — Full Data Table by Race 2017-2024
The table below shows the estimated breakdown of fatal police shootings by race for each year from 2017 to 2024, based on the Washington Post Fatal Force database. The 2024 Black total of 248 is confirmed by Statista. Other figures are derived from the Washington Post stacked bar chart data as published on Statista (ID 585152).
Click any column to sort. The U.S. military context for the country's law enforcement capacity is in our U.S. armed forces analysis.
| Year | Total | White | Black | Hispanic | Other | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 981 | ~457 | ~223 | ~179 | ~28 | ~94 |
| 2018 | 983 | ~454 | ~229 | ~162 | ~23 | ~115 |
| 2019 | 999 | ~423 | ~235 | ~158 | ~39 | ~144 |
| 2020 | 1,020 | ~432 | ~243 | ~169 | ~45 | ~131 |
| 2021 | 1,048 | ~469 | ~237 | ~169 | ~38 | ~135 |
| 2022 | 1,097 | ~436 | ~280 | ~207 | ~38 | ~136 |
| 2023 | 1,164 | ~476 | ~271 | ~195 | ~67 | ~155 |
| 2024 | 1,173 | ~450 | 248* | ~200 | ~75 | ~200 |
Rate of Fatal Police Shootings — Black Americans at 6.1 per Million, More Than 2x White Rate
The raw number of shootings only tells part of the story. When adjusted for the size of each racial group's population, the disparities become starker. Black Americans are shot by police at a rate of 6.1 per million people per year, compared to 2.8 per million for Hispanic Americans and 2.4 per million for White Americans.
Put another way, a Black American is approximately 2.5 times more likely to be shot by police than a White American, per capita. This rate has remained persistently high across the full period of Washington Post tracking from 2015 to 2024. The data on racial economic disparities in the U.S. is analyzed in our GDP per capita analysis.
The clearest way to understand the racial disparity in U.S. fatal police shootings is to compare each group's share of the population with its share of shooting victims. Black Americans represent approximately 13.4% of the U.S. population but approximately 22% of all people shot to death by police. White Americans represent approximately 60% of the population but only 40-41% of police shooting victims. Hispanic Americans represent approximately 18% of the population and approximately 17% of victims, a broadly proportional representation. The disparity between Black Americans' population share and their share of fatal shootings is the most significant finding in all analysis of this data, consistently replicated across multiple databases, methodologies, and time periods.
U.S. Fatal Police Shootings — Steady Upward Trend 2017-2026
The overall trend in U.S. fatal police shootings has been one of steady, uninterrupted growth since tracking began. From 981 in 2017, the total has risen every year without exception to 1,278 in 2025, a 30% increase over eight years. No major legislative or policy intervention has produced a sustained reversal of this trend at the national level.
Individual cities and states have seen localized improvements, but the national picture has continued to worsen. The U.S. domestic and international security context is in our U.S. armed forces analysis.
- 2017: 981 — Baseline year. Washington Post database at this point tracked 2.5 years of data. 981 represents the first full year with comprehensive coverage.
- 2020: 1,020 — COVID-19 pandemic year. Despite reduced public activity and partial lockdowns, fatal police shootings increased. The death of George Floyd (May 2020) sparked nationwide protests but did not reduce the annual total.
- 2022: 1,097 — First year crossing 1,100 in the Washington Post database. A notable jump of 49 from 2021.
- 2023: 1,164 — Highest total in the Washington Post database at the time. +67 from 2022. The Washington Post noted the trend showed no signs of reversing despite years of public awareness campaigns and policy discussions.
- 2024: 1,173 — Washington Post's final tracking year. 1,173 confirmed. Washington Post announced it would stop adding new records after December 31, 2024.
- 2025: 1,278 — Mapping Police Violence's total. The highest annual figure yet recorded. Black people were almost three times more likely to be killed than White people. Only 6 days with no recorded police killings in the entire year.
Who Are the Victims — Gender, Age, and Armed Status
Beyond race, the victim profile of U.S. fatal police shootings is remarkably consistent across years. 95-96% of all victims are male, one of the most stable findings in the data. More than half of all people shot and killed by police are between 20 and 40 years old, with 71% aged between 18 and 44.
The lifetime risk of dying from police violence is at its highest from ages 20 to 35, and this applies to men and women of all racial groups.
Most victims were armed at the time of the shooting, but a meaningful minority were unarmed, and Black victims were more likely to be unarmed than White victims at the time of the encounter, according to Washington Post analysis.
The mental health consequences of this pattern extend beyond the individuals killed. Police killings of unarmed Black Americans are responsible for more than 50 million additional days of poor mental health per year among Black Americans, according to NAACP data. Each highly publicised killing triggers a measurable community health response. The economic and social inequality context underlying these disparities is in our global GDP and inequality analysis.
Which U.S. States Have the Most Fatal Police Shootings? — 2025 State Data
Fatal police shootings are not evenly distributed across the United States. In 2025, four states accounted for a disproportionately large share of all police killings: California (128), Texas (107), Florida (101), and Arizona (57).
These four states alone represent approximately 31% of all police killings in 2025, while containing approximately 34% of the total U.S. population, suggesting their per-capita rates are roughly proportional to their population size. At the opposite extreme, Rhode Island recorded zero fatal police shootings in both 2024 and 2025, the only state with this distinction in each year.
The racial disparity pattern seen nationally is replicated at the state level. In California, Black people were nearly 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police than White people in 2025. Texas police killings in 2025 (107) were significantly lower than 2024's record-high of 168, the single largest year-on-year decline of any major state.
Georgia police killed 38 people in 2025, with the majority of fatalities occurring in Atlanta. The law enforcement and national security data for the broader U.S. context is in our U.S. armed forces analysis.
U.S. Fatal Police Shootings — Key Statistics and Facts
How U.S. Fatal Police Shootings Are Counted — Washington Post vs FBI vs Mapping Police Violence
Understanding U.S. police shooting statistics requires understanding how they are collected, because different databases use different methodologies and produce different totals. The Washington Post Fatal Force database is the primary source for this article's 2017-2024 data.
It tracks every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer where the officer shoots and kills a civilian, specifically excluding: deaths in police custody (non-shooting), fatal shootings by off-duty officers, and non-shooting deaths. The Washington Post verified each case through news reports, social media, law enforcement websites, and original reporting.
After December 31, 2024, the Washington Post stopped adding new cases but will continue updating existing records.
The FBI's database dramatically undercounts police killings. By 2021, only approximately one-third of departments' fatal shootings appeared in FBI data, because reporting is voluntary, not mandatory. The Washington Post documented more than twice as many fatal police killings as the FBI's annual average.
Mapping Police Violence uses a broader definition: any incident where a law enforcement officer (on-duty or off-duty) applies lethal force resulting in a civilian being killed, whether "justified" or not by the U.S. legal system. This broader definition explains why Mapping Police Violence totals (including 2025's 1,278) may differ slightly from Washington Post figures.
The broader legal and justice system context is in our casualties data analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions — U.S. Fatal Police Shootings by Race
1,173 people were shot to death by U.S. police in 2024 (Washington Post Fatal Force database, December 2024). This included 248 Black Americans (confirmed), approximately 450 White Americans, approximately 200 Hispanic Americans, and the remainder as Other or Unknown. Source: Washington Post via Statista ID 585152, February 2025.
1,278 people were killed by police in the United States in 2025, according to Mapping Police Violence. This is the highest annual total recorded. Black people were almost three times more likely to be killed by police than White people in 2025. There were only 6 days in 2025 with no recorded police killing. Source: Police Brutality Center / Mapping Police Violence, 2025.
Rate of fatal police shootings per million per year (2015-2024): Black Americans: 6.1, Hispanic Americans: 2.8, White Americans: 2.4. Black Americans are shot at more than 2.5x the rate of White Americans per capita. Source: Washington Post via Statista, December 2024.
Black Americans account for approximately 22-23% of fatal police shootings in the United States while representing approximately 13.4% of the population. White Americans account for approximately 40-41% of fatal police shootings while representing over 60% of the population. Source: NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet, Washington Post Fatal Force database.
Yes. Fatal police shootings grew from 981 in 2017 to 1,278 in 2025, a 30% increase over 8 years, with no single year of significant decline. 2025 was the highest annual total recorded. Source: Washington Post Fatal Force database (2017-2024), Mapping Police Violence (2025).
95-96% of people shot to death by U.S. police are male. More than half are between 20 and 40 years old, with 71% aged 18-44. This demographic pattern has remained consistent across all years of data. Source: Washington Post Fatal Force database, NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.
In 2025: California 128, Texas 107, Florida 101, Arizona 57, Georgia 38. Rhode Island had zero police shootings in both 2024 and 2025, the only state with this distinction both years. In California, Black people were 3.5x more likely to be killed by police than White people in 2025. Source: Mapping Police Violence / Police Brutality Center, 2025.
The primary source is the Washington Post Fatal Force database (2015-2024), which found FBI data undercounts police killings by more than half. After 2024, Mapping Police Violence continues tracking. Statista ID 585152 reproduces Washington Post data. The FBI database is unreliable for this metric because reporting is voluntary for police departments. Source: Washington Post database methodology, Mapping Police Violence.
Since 2005, 98 non-federal law enforcement officers have been arrested in connection with fatal on-duty shootings. Only 35 have been convicted, often for lesser offenses like manslaughter, not murder. Only 3 officers have been convicted of murder with convictions that stood. 22 were acquitted in jury trials. Source: NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.
Yes, according to multiple data sources. Black Americans face a fatal shooting rate of 6.1 per million per year vs 2.4 for White Americans. They represent 13.4% of the population but 22% of shooting victims. Peer-reviewed research (ScienceDirect, 2024) found Black individuals face nearly 3 times the likelihood of fatal police shootings compared to White individuals. Source: Washington Post, Statista, NAACP, ScienceDirect peer-reviewed analysis 2024.