Virginia

  • Suicides make up 67% of all firearm deaths in Virginia.
  • More than half of all suicides in Virginia are by firearm.
  • In 2017, there were 672 firearm suicide deaths in Virginia.
  • Compared to other states, Virginia’s firearm suicide rate in 2017 was ranked 18/50 from lowest to highest.

Data

Firearm Deaths in Virginia
2008-2017

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 Virginia and the United States
2008-2017

Age-adjusted rate per 100,000

Virginia
United States
 

Demographics

Firearm Suicide Deaths in Virginia by Sex
2013-2017

Male
Female

Firearm Suicide Rates in Virginia by Sex, Race, and Ethnicity
2013-2017

Age-Adjusted Rate Per 100,000

Male
Female

The chart above includes three racial categories: (1) Asian, (2) Black, and (3) White; as well as one Hispanic Origin category: (1) Hispanic/Latino. Race and Hispanic Origin categories defined by the CDC are not mutually exclusive, meaning that a person counted in the Hispanic/Latino category will also be counted in a racial category at the same time.

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 Hispanic Origin category and therefore are omitted from the above chart: American Indian/ Alaska Native females and males, Asian/ Pacific Islander females, and Hispanic/Latino females.

Notes:

  • The most recently available CDC data is 2017; as such, 2017 data is used where appropriate.
  • Unless otherwise specified, statistics reflect 5-year averages (2013-2017).
  • 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, 1999-2017. Available: http://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html.

 

This page was last updated on August 3, 2019.