Behind closed doors, domestic violence remains one of the country’s most persistent public safety crises. It affects millions of Americans, generates billions of dollars in healthcare costs, and kills thousands of spouses and intimate partners.
An analysis by The Law Offices of Tad Nelson found that women bear most of the fatal consequences. They represented approximately three-quarters of victims in violent domestic relationship offenses recorded from 2020 through 2024 and nearly four out of every five intimate partner homicide victims.
The study also revealed stark geographic differences. Texas recorded the highest number of murder-suicide incidents during the first half of 2025, but states including Oklahoma, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, and Arizona reported some of the country’s highest lifetime domestic violence rates.
Together, the figures show that spousal danger cannot be measured through a single statistic. Homicide totals, murder-suicide incidents, firearm use, abuse prevalence, injuries, and prior warning signs all provide different views of the same national emergency.
Nearly Four Women Are Killed by Intimate Partners Every Day
More than 2,400 women were killed by men in the United States in 2023. Approximately 90% knew their killers, and wives or other intimate acquaintances accounted for 57.1% of the victims.
On an average day, the total amounts to nearly four women killed by intimate partners.
Although both men and women experience domestic abuse, the homicide burden falls disproportionately on women. Women represented 77.9% of intimate partner homicide victims.
Domestic relationship offense data covering 2020 through 2024 further demonstrate the imbalance:
- Women accounted for approximately 835,506 victims
- Men accounted for approximately 284,118 victims
- Men represented approximately 844,558 offenders
- Women represented approximately 249,341 offenders
In percentage terms, women made up 75% of victims, while men made up 77% of offenders.
The data reflect cases involving violent offenses tied to spouses, former spouses, dating partners, and other qualifying domestic relationships.
One in Four Women Experiences Severe Partner Violence
Domestic violence is much broader than the cases that end in death. Approximately 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States.
Over the course of a year, that pace translates to more than 10 million people.
An estimated:
- One in four women experiences severe physical violence, sexual violence, or violent stalking by an intimate partner
- One in nine men experiences the same forms of victimization
- More than one in three women experiences physical violence, rape, or stalking by an intimate partner during her lifetime
- More than one in four men experiences those offenses during his lifetime
Intimate partner violence accounts for approximately 15% of violent crime, while more than one million people report violent attacks by partners each year.
The financial burden is also substantial. Healthcare costs connected to domestic violence exceed $4 billion annually, without fully capturing lost wages, housing disruption, legal expenses, childcare costs, reduced productivity, or the long-term effects on children.
Oklahoma and Nevada Report Some of the Highest Rates
The number of recorded incidents in a state is influenced by population. For that reason, lifetime victimization percentages can help reveal where domestic violence is particularly widespread.
Five states were highlighted for their elevated rates:
| State | Female lifetime victimization rate | Male lifetime victimization rate |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 49.1% | 40.7% |
| Nevada | 48.1% | 30.9% |
| Kentucky | 45.3% | 35.5% |
| Arizona | 42.6% | 33.4% |
| Missouri | 41.8% | 35.2% |
Nearly half of Oklahoma women experienced intimate partner violence, rape, or stalking during their lifetimes. More than four in 10 Oklahoma men reported the same categories of victimization.
Nevada’s rate among women was nearly as high, at 48.1%. The state’s domestic violence service providers received more than 65,000 contacts in 2014.
Kentucky’s domestic violence programs demonstrated the pressure placed on victim services. On one day in 2019, programs served 1,420 survivors, yet 128 additional requests went unmet because of insufficient resources.
Missouri recorded more than 45,000 domestic violence incidents in 2018, a 10% increase compared with 2014.
Arizona’s figures included nearly 304,000 women who had experienced intimate partner stalking and 96 domestic violence-related deaths recorded in 2019.
Texas Recorded 29 Murder-Suicides in Six Months
The murder-suicide findings produce a different state ranking.
Across the country, 237 murder-suicide events involving 526 victims were documented during the first half of 2025. Texas recorded 29 events, more than any other state.
States with the most murder-suicide events
| Rank | State | Events |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 29 |
| 2 | Georgia | 17 |
| 3 | Florida | 16 |
| 4 | Ohio | 15 |
| 5 | California | 10 |
| 5 | New York | 10 |
| 7 | Arizona | 9 |
| 7 | Missouri | 9 |
| 9 | Louisiana | 8 |
| 10 | Michigan | 7 |
The top four states accounted for 77 events, or nearly one-third of the national total.
Texas alone recorded nearly twice as many incidents as Florida and almost three times as many as California or New York.
Eight jurisdictions recorded no murder-suicides during the study period:
| Jurisdiction | Events |
|---|---|
| Alaska | 0 |
| Connecticut | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 |
| Hawaii | 0 |
| Maine | 0 |
| North Dakota | 0 |
| South Dakota | 0 |
| Utah | 0 |
Another eight states recorded one event each: Delaware, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming.
These six-month totals should be interpreted narrowly. A state with no recorded murder-suicide event during the period may still experience domestic homicides, nonfatal shootings, strangulation, stalking, sexual violence, and other forms of partner abuse.
Most Murder-Suicides Follow a History of Abuse
More than 90% of murder-suicide perpetrators are men, and more than two-thirds of the incidents represent the culmination of longstanding intimate partner violence.
The pattern often involves the murder of a female spouse or partner followed by the perpetrator’s suicide. In some cases, the offender also kills children, relatives, friends, or responding law enforcement officers.
Children are killed in approximately 16% of murder-suicide incidents.
The available evidence suggests that warning signs are common:
- Approximately 80% of perpetrators were known to authorities or had a documented history of abusive behavior
- More than two-thirds of incidents followed longstanding intimate partner violence
- Separation is frequently identified as an immediate trigger
- Firearm access is increasingly common
- The home is the primary location
- Additional victims are often members of the same family
The home accounted for 80% of all murder-suicide incidents and 85% of intimate partner-related murder-suicides.
This concentration challenges the assumption that home is always a place of safety. For people experiencing intimate partner violence, it may be the location where an abusive person has the greatest access, control, and privacy.
One in Six Incidents Involves a Child’s Death
Most murder-suicides involve one homicide victim, but 16% involve at least two.
| Fatality pattern | Percentage of incidents |
|---|---|
| One homicide victim | 84% |
| Two homicide victims | 10% |
| Three or more homicide victims | 6% |
The percentage involving three or more victims is especially significant because intimate partner violence is a major driver of family mass killings.
Family homicide research has found that nearly half of incidents involving multiple victims also involved prior family court appearances. Divorce proceedings, custody disputes, restraining orders, and separation may increase conflict when an abusive person believes they are losing control.
The data do not suggest that divorce or custody litigation causes homicide. Instead, legal separation may expose or intensify preexisting patterns of coercion, stalking, jealousy, threats, and violence.
Firearm Use Rose From 51% to Nearly 65%
Firearms were used in 51% of cases involving women killed by men in 2011. By 2023, the share had increased to 64.9%.
That represents a rise of nearly 14 percentage points.
The number of women who have experienced firearm threats is also striking. An estimated 4.5 million women currently living in the United States have been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner.
A firearm can give an abusive partner the ability to cause fatal harm immediately, even when previous incidents involved threats, pushing, hitting, stalking, or property damage rather than attempted murder.
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have adopted extreme risk protection order laws. These measures permit courts to temporarily restrict a high-risk individual from possessing or purchasing firearms when evidence indicates that the person may harm themselves or others.
Their potential relevance is particularly clear in murder-suicide cases, which involve both homicide and suicide risks.
Domestic Violence Caused Nearly 700,000 Injuries
From 2020 through 2024, more than 1.1 million people experienced violent crimes connected to a domestic relationship, and nearly 700,000 sustained injuries.
The recorded injuries included:
| Injury category | Number of victims |
|---|---|
| Apparent minor injury | 453,375 |
| Other major injury | 94,296 |
| Possible internal injury | 78,552 |
| Severe laceration | 57,923 |
| Unconsciousness | 38,733 |
| Apparent broken bones | 25,956 |
| Loss of teeth | 6,275 |
The figures do not capture every medical or psychological consequence. Some injuries are never reported to law enforcement, while conditions such as traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, or chronic pain may emerge later.
Domestic violence has also been associated with:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Insomnia
- Substance misuse
- Depression and anxiety
- Unintended pregnancy
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Miscarriage and stillbirth
- Preterm birth
- Suicidal thoughts and attempts
The harm can continue long after the relationship ends, affecting employment, housing, parenting, financial security, and future relationships.
Age Differences May Be One Additional Risk Factor
Age is another characteristic examined in fatal domestic violence research. The average age difference between offenders and victims in intimate partner murder-suicides was 5.2 years.
Researchers have found that homicide risk can increase as the age difference between partners widens, although age disparity alone does not establish that a relationship is abusive.
Adults ages 55 and older accounted for 25% of murder-suicide offenders. Older adults represent a comparatively small proportion of homicide offenders overall, making their presence in murder-suicide cases especially notable.
Domestic offense data from 2020 through 2024 showed that victims were most heavily concentrated among younger and middle-aged adults, while offenders peaked within the 21-to-40 age range.
Digital Evidence Is Becoming More Important
The online “alpine divorce” trend has renewed public discussion about coercion, abandonment, and partner endangerment in remote environments.
By March 2026, videos and discussions using the term had generated more than 25 million TikTok views.
The phrase describes situations in which a person leaves or endangers a partner in an isolated outdoor location. Recent cases involving hiking and mountaineering deaths brought the concept into the public spotlight, although coercive behavior can occur in any location.
For victims and family members, digital records may help document a broader pattern of conduct. Potential evidence can include:
- Threatening or controlling text messages
- Social media posts
- GPS and location histories
- Repeated calls or online harassment
- Photographs of injuries or damaged property
- Financial records
- Messages discussing weapons
- Prior police reports or protection orders
Such evidence can become important during a criminal investigation, divorce, custody dispute, or request for emergency protection.
Fatal Cases Often Follow Missed Opportunities for Intervention
Despite the frequency of documented warning signs, fewer than half of female intimate partner homicide victims fully recognize the danger presented by their abusers. The study found that only 47% understood the extent of the risk.
That gap may reflect the gradual escalation of abuse. Threats and controlling behavior can become normalized over time, making it difficult for victims to identify when the situation has become potentially fatal.
The findings compiled by the Law Offices of Tad Nelson show that intimate partner homicide and murder-suicide are not isolated family disputes. They are measurable forms of violent crime with recurring patterns, identifiable risk factors, and consequences extending across generations.
Texas may have recorded the largest number of murder-suicides during the first half of 2025, but the national data demonstrate that no region is immune. High domestic violence rates, firearm threats, prior abuse, separation, and inadequate access to victim services can create danger in states across the country.
The most important finding may be that many fatal incidents are preceded by behavior that relatives, courts, police departments, medical professionals, or service providers have already observed. Recognizing and responding to those warning signs before violence escalates remains one of the country’s most urgent public safety challenges.