Florida

  • Suicides make up 63% of all firearm deaths in Florida.
  • More than half of all suicides in Florida are by firearm.
  • In 2018, there were 1,869 firearm suicide deaths in Florida, including 62 children and teens (ages 0-19).
  • Florida’s firearm suicide rate has been consistently higher than the overall United States’ rate. In 2018, Florida had the 19th lowest firearm suicide rate in the country.

Data

The firearm suicide rate in Florida increased 6% over the last decade (2009-2018) and in 2018, Florida’s firearm suicide rate was 7.58 per 100,000 residents– the highest firearm suicide rate in the state in over twenty years.

Firearm Deaths in Florida
2009-2018

Number of deaths

Suicide
Homicide
Other

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.

Firearm Suicide Rates in Florida and the United States
2009-2018

Age-adjusted rate per 100,000

Florida
United States
 

Demographics

The majority of suicide decedents are males. In Florida, White (non Latino) males in particular are disproportionately impacted by firearm suicide. Hispanic/Latino males have the second highest firearm suicide rate in the state.

Firearm Suicide Deaths in Florida by Sex
2014-2018

Female
Male

Firearm Suicide Rates in Florida by Sex, Race, and Ethnicity
2014-2018

Age-adjusted rate per 100,000

Male
Female

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 races and therefore are omitted from the above chart: American Indian/ Alaska Native females and males and Asian/ Pacific Islander females.

 

County Variations

Firearm Suicide Rates by County
2009-2018

Age-Adjusted Firearm Suicide Rate per 100,000

  • 3.61 to 6.81
  • 6.82 to 10.02
  • 10.03 to 13.23
  • 13.24 to 16.24
  • Suppressed /
    Unreliable

The CDC suppresses data in which fewer than 10 deaths are reported in a given time frame and considers firearm suicide rates based on fewer than 20 deaths “statistically unreliable.” Counties that meet this criteria are labeled “Suppressed/Unreliable.”

Notes:

  • The most recently available CDC data is 2018; as such, 2018 data is used where appropriate.
  • Unless otherwise specified, statistics reflect 5-year averages (2014-2018).
  • All rates listed are age-adjusted in order to allow for accurate comparisons between populations with differing age distributions.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Suicide Deaths and Rates per 100,000. WONDER Online Database, 1999-2018. Available: http://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html.