In the U.S., the top five causes of death amongst 25-29-year-old millennials in 2017 were accidents, suicides, homicides, malignant neoplasms, and diseases of the heart. The most common causes was accidents, accounting for 45 percent of total deaths that year. This statistic shows the leading causes of death, as a percentage of total deaths, for 25 to 29-year-old millennials in the U.S. in 2017.

As of 2023, the third leading cause of death among teenagers aged 15 to 19 years in the United States was intentional self-harm or suicide, contributing to around 17 percent of deaths among this age group. The leading cause of death at that time was unintentional injuries, contributing to around 38.6 percent of deaths, while 20.7 percent of all deaths in this age group were due to assault or homicide. Cancer and heart disease, the overall leading causes of death in the United States, are also among the leading causes of death among U.S. teenagers. Adolescent suicide in the United States In 2021, around 22 percent of students in grades 9 to 12 reported that they had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Female students were around twice as likely to report seriously considering suicide compared to male students. In 2023, New Mexico had the highest rate of suicides among U.S. teenagers, with around 28 deaths per 100,000 teenagers, followed by Idaho with a rate of 22.5 per 100,000. The states with the lowest death rates among adolescents are New Jersey and New York. Mental health treatment Suicidal thoughts are a clear symptom of mental health issues. Mental health issues are not rare among children and adolescents, and treatment for such issues has become increasingly accepted and accessible. In 2021, around 15 percent of boys and girls aged 5 to 17 years had received some form of mental health treatment in the past year. At that time, around 35 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 years in the United States who were receiving specialty mental health services were doing so because they had thought about killing themselves or had already tried to kill themselves.

Rank, number of deaths, percentage of deaths, and age-specific mortality rates for the leading causes of death, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

Among men in the United States, those aged 75 years and older have the highest death rate from suicide among all age groups. In 2023, the suicide death rate among men aged 75 years and older was 40.7 per 100,000 population. In comparison, the death rate from suicide among men aged 25 to 44 years was 29.8 per 100,000. Suicide is a significant problem in the United States, with rates increasing over the past decade. Suicide among men In the United States, the suicide rate among men is almost four times higher than that of women. In 2022, the rate of suicide among U.S. men was 23 per 100,000 population, the highest rate recorded over the past 70 years. Firearms account for the vast majority of suicide deaths among men, accounting for around 60 percent of male suicides in 2021. The reasons why U.S. men have higher rates of suicide than women are complex and not fully understood, but may have to do with the more violent means by which men carry out suicide and the stigma around seeking help for mental health issues. Suicide among women Although the suicide rate among women in the U.S. is significantly lower than that of men, the rate of suicide among women has increased over the past couple of decades. Among women, those aged 45 to 64 years have the highest death rates due to suicide, followed by women 25 to 44 years old. Interestingly, the share of women reporting serious thoughts of suicide in the past year is higher than that of men, with around 5.5 percent of U.S. women reporting such thoughts in 2023. Similarly to men, firearms account for most suicide deaths among women, however suffocation and poisoning account for a significant share of suicides among women. In 2021, around 35 percent of suicides among women were carried out by firearms, while suffocation and poisoning each accounted for around 28 percent of suicide deaths.

Between the beginning of January 2020 and June 14, 2023, of the 1,134,641 deaths caused by COVID-19 in the United States, around 307,169 had occurred among those aged 85 years and older. This statistic shows the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths in the U.S. from January 2020 to June 2023, by age.