In 2020, about 24,292 people died committing suicide with a firearm in the United States. This is an increase from 1990 when there were 18,885 firearm related suicide deaths. Firearm suicides reached a low in the year 2000 when there were 16,586 deaths.

Since the 1950s, the suicide rate in the United States has been significantly higher among men than women. In 2022, the suicide rate among men was almost four times higher than that of women. However, the rate of suicide for both men and women has increased gradually over the past couple of decades. Facts on suicide in the United States In 2022, the rate of suicide death in the United States was around 14 per 100,000 population. The suicide rate in the U.S. has generally increased since the year 2000, with the highest rates ever recorded in the years 2018 and 2022. In the United States, death rates from suicide are highest among those aged 45 to 64 years and lowest among younger adults aged 15 to 24. The states with the highest rates of suicide are Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming, while New Jersey and Massachusetts have the lowest rates. Suicide among men In 2023, around 4.5 percent of men in the United States reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Although this rate is lower than that of women, men still have a higher rate of suicide death than women. One reason for this may have to do with the method of suicide. Although firearms account for the largest share of suicide deaths among both men and women, firearms account for almost 60 percent of all suicides among men and just 35 percent among women. Suffocation and poisoning are the other most common methods of suicide among women, with the chances of surviving a suicide attempt from these methods being much higher than surviving an attempt by firearm. The age group with the highest rate of suicide death among men is by far those aged 75 years and over.

As of 2022, the U.S. states with the highest death rates from suicide were Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming. In Wyoming and Montana, there were around **** and **** suicide deaths per 100,000 population, respectively. In comparison, in New Jersey, the state with the lowest suicide death rate, there were only around *** suicide deaths per 100,000 population. Differences in suicide rates by gender In the United States, there is a vast difference in suicide rates between men and women, with rates over *** times higher among men. However, rates of suicide for both men and women have increased over the past couple of decades. Among men, those aged 75 years and older have the highest suicide rates, with around ** deaths per 100,000 population in 2021. Among women, those aged 45 to 64 years have the highest rates of suicide death with *** deaths per 100,000 population. What is the most common method of suicide? In the United States, the most common method of suicide is with firearms, followed by suffocation and then poisoning. In 2022, there were around ****** suicide deaths from firearms in the United States, compared to ****** deaths from suffocation and ***** from drug poisoning. In 2021, firearms accounted for around ** percent of suicide deaths among men. In comparison, around ** percent of deaths from suicide among women were due to firearms, while suffocation and poisoning each accounted for ** percent of such deaths.

According to the latest available data, there were around **** suicide deaths per 100,000 population in the United States in 2023. Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. highlighting the need for awareness and prevention. The suicide rate in the U.S. has risen for both men and women in recent years but remains over ***** times higher for men. Hospitalizations In 2021, there were around ******* adults hospitalized in the U.S. after a suicide attempt. Although the suicide rate among men is significantly higher than among women, there are more hospitalizations after suicide attempts for women than for men. In 2019, there were ******* such hospitalizations among women and ******* hospitalizations among men. Public opinionSuicide can be a divisive topic that involves religious and political views. Recent data shows that ** percent of the U.S. population believes suicide is morally wrong, while ** percent believe it to be morally acceptable. However, only ** percent of adults believe it is “very important” to invest public dollars in the prevention of suicide.

In 2020, due to intentional self-harm, there were **** deaths per 100,000 people in the United States, a decrease from the previous year. This statistic shows the number of deaths from intentional self-harm per 100,000 in the U.S. from 1980 to 2020.

Source: Suicide Awareness Voices of Education https://jmcintos.pages.iu.edu/SuicideDataCompiled.htm

Age-adjusted rate of suicide deaths by sex, race/ethnicity, age; trends if available. Source: Santa Clara County Public Health Department, VRBIS, 2007-2016. Data as of 05/26/2017; U.S. Census Bureau; 2010 Census, Tables PCT12, PCT12H, PCT12I, PCT12J, PCT12K, PCT12L, PCT12M; generated by Baath M.; using American FactFinder; Accessed June 20, 2017. METADATA:Notes (String): Lists table title, notes and sourcesYear (String): Year of data; presented as pooled years (2007 to 2016)Category (String): Lists the category representing the data: Santa Clara County is for total population, age categories as follows: <18, 18 to 44, 45 to 64, 65+; 10 to 19, 20 to 24; 10 to 24; <1, 1 to 4, 5 to 14, 15 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, 75 to 84, 85+; United States and Healthy People 2020 targetRate per 100,000 people (Numeric): Suicide rate. Rates for age groups are reported as age-specific rates per 100,000 people. All other rates are age-adjusted rates per 100,000 people.

In 2020, more men died by suicide involving firearms than women in the United States. In that year, about ***** women died by suicide using a firearm in the United States compared to ****** men.

The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DICRA) requires the head of each federal law enforcement agency to submit to the U.S. attorney general, information about the death of any person who is detained, under arrest, or in the process of being arrested by a federal law enforcement officer (or by a state or local law enforcement officer while participating in a federal law enforcement operation, task force, or other capacity) being transported to, incarcerated at, or detained at any facility (including immigration or juvenile facilities) pursuant to a contract with a federal law enforcement agency, state or local government facility used by a federal law enforcement agency, or federal correctional or pre-trial detention facility located within the United States (Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013, P.L. 113-242). The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) created the Federal Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (FDCRP) to collect the data required of federal law enforcement agencies. Federal law enforcement agencies are surveyed on an annual basis about deaths that fall under the scope of DICRA. This data collection includes the 2020 Arrest-Related Death Incident Report (CJ-13A) data and the 2020 Detention/Incarceration Incident Report (CJ-13B) data.

In the entire period from 2000 to 2020, white non-Hispanics in the United States had higher rates of suicide death by firearm than Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks. In 2020, there were around nine firearm suicide deaths per 100,000 population among non-Hispanic whites. This statistic shows the firearm suicide death rate in the United States from 2000 to 2020, by race/ethnicity.

This dataset contains counts of deaths for California counties based on information entered on death certificates. Final counts are derived from static data and include out-of-state deaths to California residents, whereas provisional counts are derived from incomplete and dynamic data. Provisional counts are based on the records available when the data was retrieved and may not represent all deaths that occurred during the time period. Deaths involving injuries from external or environmental forces, such as accidents, homicide and suicide, often require additional investigation that tends to delay certification of the cause and manner of death. This can result in significant under-reporting of these deaths in provisional data.

The final data tables include both deaths that occurred in each California county regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence) and deaths to residents of each California county (by residence), whereas the provisional data table only includes deaths that occurred in each county regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence). The data are reported as totals, as well as stratified by age, gender, race-ethnicity, and death place type. Deaths due to all causes (ALL) and selected underlying cause of death categories are provided. See temporal coverage for more information on which combinations are available for which years.

The cause of death categories are based solely on the underlying cause of death as coded by the International Classification of Diseases. The underlying cause of death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury." It is a single value assigned to each death based on the details as entered on the death certificate. When more than one cause is listed, the order in which they are listed can affect which cause is coded as the underlying cause. This means that similar events could be coded with different underlying causes of death depending on variations in how they were entered. Consequently, while underlying cause of death provides a convenient comparison between cause of death categories, it may not capture the full impact of each cause of death as it does not always take into account all conditions contributing to the death.

This dataset contains counts of deaths for California as a whole based on information entered on death certificates. Final counts are derived from static data and include out-of-state deaths to California residents, whereas provisional counts are derived from incomplete and dynamic data. Provisional counts are based on the records available when the data was retrieved and may not represent all deaths that occurred during the time period. Deaths involving injuries from external or environmental forces, such as accidents, homicide and suicide, often require additional investigation that tends to delay certification of the cause and manner of death. This can result in significant under-reporting of these deaths in provisional data.

The final data tables include both deaths that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence) and deaths to California residents (by residence), whereas the provisional data table only includes deaths that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence). The data are reported as totals, as well as stratified by age, gender, race-ethnicity, and death place type. Deaths due to all causes (ALL) and selected underlying cause of death categories are provided. See temporal coverage for more information on which combinations are available for which years.

The cause of death categories are based solely on the underlying cause of death as coded by the International Classification of Diseases. The underlying cause of death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury." It is a single value assigned to each death based on the details as entered on the death certificate. When more than one cause is listed, the order in which they are listed can affect which cause is coded as the underlying cause. This means that similar events could be coded with different underlying causes of death depending on variations in how they were entered. Consequently, while underlying cause of death provides a convenient comparison between cause of death categories, it may not capture the full impact of each cause of death as it does not always take into account all conditions contributing to the death.

In 2020, there were around seven suicides by firearms per 100,000 population in the United States. Firearms were the most common mechanism of injury in suicide deaths in the United States in 2020. This statistic illustrates the suicide rate in the United States in 2019 and 2020, by mechanism of injury.

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.

New Mexico was the state with the highest rate of suicidal death among adolescents in the U.S. in 2023, with around **** deaths per 100,000 adolescents. The overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased over recent years. Suicide is more common among men than women, with rates among men almost **** times higher than among women. Risk factors Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders, as well as substance abuse. In fact, suicidal thoughts, plans to commit suicide, and suicide attempts are all more common among those with drug or alcohol dependence or abuse. In terms of suicides due to a known mental disorder, depression accounts for around ** percent of all such suicides. Methods Most suicides in the United States are carried out by firearms, however, the most common method of suicide differs from country to country. In 2022, over ****** suicides in the United States were conducted by firearms, or just over half of all suicides that year. Firearms are the most common means of suicide among both men and women in the United States, but suicide by poisoning is much more common among women than men.

In the entire period from 2000 to 2020, white non-Hispanics in the United States had higher rates of suicide death by suffocation than Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks. In 2020, there were around *** suffocation suicide deaths per 100,000 population among non-Hispanic whites. This statistic shows the suffocation suicide death rate in the United States from 2000 to 2020, by race/ethnicity.

The suicide rate among females in the United States is highest for those aged 45 to 64 years and lowest among girls aged 10 to 14 and elderly women 75 and over. Although the suicide rate among women remains over three times lower than that of men, rates of suicide among women have gradually increased over the past couple decades. Suicide among women in the United States In 2021, there were around six suicide deaths per 100,000 women in the United States. In comparison, the rate of suicide among women in the year 2000 was about four per 100,000. Suicide rates among women are by far the highest among American Indians or Alaska Natives and lowest among Hispanic and Black or African American women. Although firearms are involved in the highest share of suicide deaths among both men and women, they account for a much smaller share among women. In 2020, the firearm suicide rate among women was 1.8 per 100,000 population, while the rates of suicide for suffocation and poisoning were 1.7 and 1.5 per 100,000, respectively. Suicidal ideation among women Although not everyone who experiences suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, will attempt suicide, suicidal thoughts are a risk factor for suicide. In 2022, just over five percent of women in the United States reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Suicidal thoughts are more common among women than men even though men have much higher rates of death from suicide than women. This is because men are more likely to use more lethal methods of suicide such as firearms. Women who suffer from substance use disorder are significantly more likely to have serious thoughts of suicide than women without substance use disorder.

During the 2019-20 school year, one youth committed suicide on the campus of a functioning elementary or secondary school. It has been found that the death rate for suicide in the U.S. for males has remained higher than that of females for the entire period between 1950 to 2019.

In 2023, the most significant cause of death among men in the United States was heart disease, which contributed to **** percent of deaths. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death among U.S. men in both 2020 and 2021, and the fourth leading cause in 2022. However, by 2023 it was no longer among the ten leading causes of death among men. This statistic shows the distribution of the 10 leading causes of death among men in the United States from 2020 to 2023.

In 2023, the leading causes of death among children and adolescents in the United States aged 10 to 14 were unintentional injuries, intentional self-harm (suicide), and cancer. That year, unintentional injuries accounted for around 26 percent of all deaths among this age group. Leading causes of death among older teens Like those aged 10 to 14 years, the leading cause of death among older teenagers in the U.S. aged 15 to 19 years is unintentional injuries. In 2023, unintentional injuries accounted for around 39 percent of all deaths among older teens. However, unlike those aged 10 to 14, the second leading cause of death among teens aged 15 to 19 is assault or homicide. Sadly, the third leading cause of death among this age group is suicide, making suicide among the leading three causes of death for both age groups. Teen suicide Suicide remains a major problem among teenagers in the United States, as reflected in the leading causes of death among this age group. It was estimated that in 2021, around 22 percent of high school students in the U.S. considered attempting suicide in the past year, with this rate twice as high for girls as for boys. The states with the highest death rates due to suicide among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years are New Mexico, Idaho, and Oklahoma. In 2023, the death rate from suicide among this age group in New Mexico was 27.7 per 100,000 population. In comparison, New Jersey, the state with the lowest rate, had just 5.5 suicide deaths among those aged 15 to 19 years per 100,000 population.