Which State Has the Most Serial Killers?
By raw count, California leads every published tally, whether it counts serial killers or their victims, followed by Texas, Florida, Illinois and New York, an order that tracks population more than anything else. Per head of population the picture changes, and Alaska ranks first. The published figures are quoted below with their sources and dates, followed by this dataset's own count.
What the published rankings say
- As of September 4, 2016, the Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database contained information on 4,743 serial killers and 13,105 victims. (Serial Killer Statistics (Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database), Aamodt, M. G., updated September 4, 2016)
- The Radford/FGCU database lists 3,204 U.S. serial killers, 67.58 percent of all serial killers in the database, while the United States holds 4.35 percent of world population (ratio 15.53); England is second with 166. (Serial Killer Statistics (Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database), Aamodt, M. G., updated September 4, 2016)
- Radford/FGCU serial killer victims by state (2016 report): California 1,628 (1st), Texas 893, Florida 845, Illinois 629, New York 628, Ohio 433, Pennsylvania 420, Washington 390, Michigan 381, Georgia 365; total 11,465. (Serial Killer Statistics (Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database), Aamodt, M. G., updated September 4, 2016)
- The 2016 Radford/FGCU state table compares victim rank with 2010 population rank: Washington ranks 8th in victims but 13th in population (+5), Louisiana 13th vs 25th (+12), Oklahoma 18th vs 28th (+10), the District of Columbia 21st vs 50th (+29), Alaska 39th in victims (51) vs 47th in population (+8), and New York 5th in victims vs 3rd in population. (Serial Killer Statistics (Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database), Aamodt, M. G., updated September 4, 2016)
- WorldAtlas, citing the Radford/FGCU 2020 report, lists serial killer victims by state: California 1,777, Texas 984, Florida 933, Illinois 680, New York 677, Ohio 505, Pennsylvania 462, Michigan 425, Georgia 409, Washington 396; Alaska ranks 37th with 64. (The US States With the Most Serial Killings (WorldAtlas, Cory Price, Jan 3, 2024; citing the Radford/FGCU 2020 report))
- 24/7 Wall St.'s 2015 analysis of the Radford Serial Killer Database (victims 1900 through September 2014, adjusted per 1 million residents per decade) ranked Alaska first in serial murder per capita at 15.65 per million (51 total killings), followed by Nevada 12.19 (98), Florida 9.92 (778), California 7.81 (1,507), Washington 7.44, Oregon 7.36, Louisiana 7.35, Texas 6.11, Utah 6.01 and Oklahoma 5.86. (The States With the Most Serial Murder (24/7 Wall St., Sam Stebbins, Oct 30, 2015))
- The same 24/7 Wall St. analysis gave total serial killings through September 2014 as California 1,507, Texas 793 and Florida 778. (The States With the Most Serial Murder (24/7 Wall St., Sam Stebbins, Oct 30, 2015))
States in this dataset
Profiles so far are concentrated in California (20), Texas (14), Florida (13), New York (12), Ohio (10). The dataset is built in order of public interest, so this ranking will shift as profiles are added, and it counts a profile under every state where it records murders.
Profiles by state
Darker tiles hold more profiles. Select a state to open its page.
- 1 to 2
- 3 to 5
- 6 to 10
- 11 to 20
- More than 20
| State | Profiles | Murder convictions | Profiles |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 20 | 172 | Juan Corona, Randy Kraft, William Bonin |
| Texas | 14 | 36 | Dean Corll, Paul John Knowles, Henry Lee Lucas |
| Florida | 13 | 57 | Paul John Knowles, Gerald Stano, Samuel Little |
| New York | 12 | 60 | Arthur Shawcross, Richard Cottingham, Joel Rifkin |
| Ohio | 10 | 90 | Donald Harvey, Paul John Knowles, Jeffrey Dahmer |
| Washington | 7 | 84 | Gary Ridgway, Robert Lee Yates Jr., Kenneth Bianchi |
| Illinois | 6 | 40 | John Wayne Gacy, Belle Gunness, Robert Ben Rhoades |
| Indiana | 5 | 3 | Belle Gunness, Herb Baumeister, I-70 Killer |
| Kansas | 5 | 12 | Dennis Rader, Christopher Wilder, I-70 Killer |
| Massachusetts | 5 | 5 | Jane Toppan, Albert DeSalvo, New Bedford Highway Killer |
| Utah | 5 | 20 | Joseph Paul Franklin, Christopher Wilder, Arthur Gary Bishop |
| Georgia | 4 | 9 | Paul John Knowles, Gary Michael Hilton, Carlton Gary |
| Louisiana | 4 | 9 | Axeman of New Orleans, Danny Rolling, Robert Charles Browne |
| Michigan | 4 | 29 | Randy Kraft, Henry Lee Lucas, Oakland County Child Killer |
| Missouri | 4 | 20 | Joseph Paul Franklin, Robert Berdella, Lorenzo Gilyard |
| New Jersey | 4 | 41 | Charles Cullen, Richard Cottingham, Eastbound Strangler |
| North Carolina | 4 | 15 | Henry Louis Wallace, Gary Michael Hilton, Velma Barfield |
| Oregon | 4 | 27 | Randy Kraft, Keith Hunter Jesperson, Jerry Brudos |
| Pennsylvania | 4 | 33 | Charles Cullen, Gary Heidnik, H. H. Holmes (Herman Webster Mudgett) |
| Virginia | 4 | 7 | Paul John Knowles, Alan Wade Wilmer Sr., Timothy Wilson Spencer |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 36 | Jeffrey Dahmer, Joseph Paul Franklin, Walter Ellis |
| Alaska | 3 | 5 | Israel Keyes, Robert Hansen, Joshua Wade |
| Colorado | 3 | 9 | Scott Lee Kimball, Ted Bundy, Robert Charles Browne |
| Connecticut | 3 | 2 | Paul John Knowles, Amy Archer-Gilligan, Carl Panzram |
| Kentucky | 3 | 44 | Donald Harvey, Robert Foley, Angel Maturino Resendiz |
| South Carolina | 3 | 26 | Donald Henry Gaskins, Henry Louis Wallace, Todd Kohlhepp |
| Vermont | 3 | 1 | Israel Keyes, Connecticut River Valley Killer, Gary Schaefer |
| Arkansas | 2 | 2 | Phantom Killer of Texarkana, Robert Charles Browne |
| Tennessee | 2 | 15 | Joseph Paul Franklin, Paul Dennis Reid |
| Alabama | 1 | 1 | Nannie Doss |
| District of Columbia | 1 | 0 | Freeway Phantom |
| Hawaii | 1 | 0 | Honolulu Strangler |
| Idaho | 1 | 3 | Ted Bundy |
| Maryland | 1 | 0 | Freeway Phantom |
| Montana | 1 | 0 | Wayne Nance |
| Nebraska | 1 | 5 | Keith Hunter Jesperson |
| Nevada | 1 | 0 | Paul John Knowles |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 0 | Connecticut River Valley Killer |
| New Mexico | 1 | 0 | West Mesa Bone Collector |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 1 | Nannie Doss |
| West Virginia | 1 | 11 | Henry Lee Lucas |
| Wyoming | 1 | 5 | Keith Hunter Jesperson |
Related
Method and caveats
- Published rankings are quoted with their source and date. The Radford/FGCU database counts offenders by the state where they killed; some offenders killed in several states.
- This dataset counts a profile under every state in which it records murders.
- Raw counts track population; a per-capita view is needed before reading a ranking as a rate.
Figures from this site are recomputed from the published profile dataset on every build. The dataset grows in order of public interest and is not a census of serial murder; the national figures quoted above come from the sources named next to them. To report an error, email info@coldcaseindex.com.
Last recomputed November 4, 2026.
Cite this entry
Permalink: https://coldcaseindex.com/serial-killers/which-state-has-the-most/. This entry was last updated on November 4, 2026; cite that date as the publication date. The primary sources listed above should be cited for the underlying facts.
- APA
- ColdCaseIndex. (2026, November 4). Which State Has the Most Serial Killers?. https://coldcaseindex.com/serial-killers/which-state-has-the-most/
- MLA
- “Which State Has the Most Serial Killers?.” ColdCaseIndex, 4 Nov. 2026, coldcaseindex.com/serial-killers/which-state-has-the-most/.
- Wikipedia
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