Welcome to the 1000 Cities Project!

I track gun violence (intentional firearm fatalities and injuries) in 1328 cities, but “1000 Cities” sounds catchier, so I went with that.

The goal of this project is to highlight overlooked trends in community gun violence in American cities of all sizes, especially small and mid-sized cities that are typically understudied but increasingly contending with what might previously have been considered “big city” amounts of intentional gun violence. The data is actually from 1328 cities, including principal cities of micropolitan statistical areas with 5,000-50,000 residents, plus every US city with 50,000 or more residents. The information presented here expands upon peer-reviewed research by Magic M. Wade, professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Springfield. Her analysis, “Not as Bad as the ‘90s”? Firearm Violence in Small, Mid-size, and Large US Cities, 2015-2021, published in peer-reviewed academic journal Homicide Studies contextualizes heightened gun violence in the present era using firearm homicide and injury data from over 1300 American communities. This newsletter is dedicated to informing concerned citizens, policymakers, researchers, and journalists about the severity and scope of community gun violence in the United States.