Twenty Years of Rural and Urban Trends in Family and Intimate Partner Homicide

Descriptive analyses of the 1980 to 1999 FBI Supplementary Homicide Report data show that rates of family and intimate partner murder increased with rurality. Population-based rates for murders in general were higher in the most rural counties than in the most urban, but family and especially intimate partner murders were affected by population and proximity to a metropolitan area. For the entire 20-year period, rates for family and intimate partner murders declined regardless of place, whereas rates of intimate partner murders increased only with rurality. Possible explanatory variables are discussed and steps for future research are suggested.