Washington

  • Suicides make up 75% of all firearm deaths in Washington.
  • Nearly half of all suicides in Washington are by firearm.
  • In 2018, there were 599 firearm suicide deaths in Washington, including 40 children and teens (ages 0-19).
  • Washington had the 16th lowest firearm suicide rate in the country in 2018.

Data

While Washington’s firearm suicide rate decreased 9% from 2017 to 2018, it was still slightly higher than the United States’ rate.

Firearm Deaths in Washington
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 Washington and the United States
2009-2018

Age-adjusted rate per 100,000

Washington
United States
 

Demographics

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

Firearm Suicide Deaths in Washington by Sex
2014-2018

Male
Female

Firearm Suicide Rates in Washington 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 Hispanic Origin category and therefore are omitted from the above chart: American Indian/ Alaska Native females, Asian/ Pacific Islander females, Black females, and Hispanic/Latina females.

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.