Firearms are used in half of all suicide deaths.
Suicides make up three in every five gun deaths.
Suicide by firearm is almost always deadly — 9 out of 10 firearm suicide attempts result in death.1
Every day, 64 Americans die by firearm suicide — one every 22 minutes.
In 2019, 23,941 Americans died by firearm suicide.
The firearm suicide epidemic has been growing, with the firearm suicide rate increasing 12.5% over the last decade (2010-2019). 2019 showed a slight reprieve, with the rate dropping by 2.84% from 2018. Still, 23,941 Americans died by firearm suicide in 2019, capping a decade during which more than 200,000 people were lost to firearm suicide.
Number of deaths
The “other” category is defined as any firearm death that is not defined by the CDC as a homicide or a suicide. This could include unintentional, undetermined, and legal intervention. To obtain the number of deaths in the “other” category, the total number of firearm suicide deaths and firearm homicide deaths were subtracted from the overall firearm deaths in a given year.
Age-adjusted rate per 100,000
BY SEX
While females are more likely than males to attempt suicide, males are four times more likely to die by suicide. Across all demographics, males have higher rates of firearm suicide and suicide overall. This is primarily due to the fact that males are more likely to use a more lethal suicide attempt method, such as firearms. Suicide attempts among males are eight times more likely to involve firearms than attempts among females.
BY SEX, AGE, RACE, AND ETHNICITY
While no population is immune from firearm suicide, some demographic groups are at higher risk. Males die by firearm suicide at overwhelmingly higher rates than do females. White males and American Indian/Alaska Native males are disproportionately impacted by firearm suicide.
In 2019, firearm suicide risk was highest among people age 75 and older across the population as a whole, but that was primarily due to the very high rate of suicide among White males in that age group. Firearm suicide rates peaked at younger ages for other race/sex demographic groups. Looking at rates by sex, race, and age together can help to paint a better picture of firearm suicide in the United States.
Among males:
Age Group
Note: The CDC considers firearm suicide rates based on fewer than 20 deaths “statistically unreliable” and suppresses firearm suicide rates based on fewer than 10 deaths. Fewer than 20 firearm suicides were reported during this time period for the following groups and therefore are omitted from the above chart: American Indian/ Alaska Native males ages 75+ and Asian/ Pacific Islander males ages 75+.
Among females:
Age Group
Note: The CDC considers firearm suicide rates based on fewer than 20 deaths “statistically unreliable” and suppresses firearm suicide rates based on fewer than 10 deaths. Fewer than 20 firearm suicides were reported during this time period for the following groups and therefore are omitted from the above chart: American Indian/ Alaska Native females all age groups; Asian/ Pacific Islander females all groups; Black females ages 0-19 and 75+; and Hispanic/Latina females ages 0-19 and 75+.
Firearm suicide rates vary substantially across the country. Suicide rates (both overall and by firearm) are generally higher in places where household firearm ownership is more common. In 2019, New Jersey had the lowest firearm suicide rate, while Wyoming had the highest.
Age-adjusted rate per 100,000
Sources:
Unless otherwise specified, all other data is compiled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2019 on CDC Wonder Online Database.
This page was last updated March 2021.