Gun-related suicides and homicides in the United StatesHandguns are involved in most U.S. gun homicides.Gun-related death rates are positively correlated with household gun ownership rates.A 2023 study concluded that more restrictive state gun policies reduced homicide and suicide gun deaths.
This is a list of US states by gun deaths and rates of violence. In 2021, there were 26,000 gun suicides and 21,000 gun homicides, together making up a sixth of deaths from external causes. Gun deaths make up about half of all suicides, but over 80% of homicides.
Gun deaths in 2021 rose to levels not seen since the 1990s, but remained below rates of the 1970s.
A 2022 study found that guns were the cause of more years lost than any other source of traumatic injury, including motor vehicles.
Gun death rates
Data are from the CDC and are for the year 2021. Rates are per 100,000 inhabitants. Gun ownership estimates are from the RAND Corporation.
Location | Gun suicide rate |
Suicide rate |
Gun homicide rate |
Homicide rate |
% gun at home |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 7.9 | 14.5 | 6.3 | 7.8 | |
Wyoming | 23.7 | 32.8 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 61% |
Montana | 21.6 | 31.7 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 65% |
Alaska | 19.4 | 30.0 | 4.2 | 6.7 | 57% |
New Mexico | 14.4 | 25.2 | 10.9 | 14.5 | 36% |
Oklahoma | 13.8 | 22.0 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 55% |
Idaho | 13.8 | 20.4 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 58% |
North Dakota | 13.2 | 20.1 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 53% |
Nevada | 13.1 | 22.0 | 6.3 | 8.4 | 33% |
Arkansas | 12.9 | 20.4 | 9.3 | 11.1 | 52% |
Colorado | 12.8 | 23.8 | 4.7 | 6.3 | 38% |
West Virginia | 12.7 | 21.0 | 4.8 | 6.4 | 60% |
Alabama | 12.4 | 16.4 | 12.9 | 14.8 | 53% |
Missouri | 12.1 | 19.1 | 9.9 | 11.6 | 53% |
Arizona | 12.1 | 20.3 | 5.9 | 7.7 | 36% |
Oregon | 11.9 | 20.9 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 41% |
Kentucky | 11.8 | 18.1 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 53% |
Kansas | 11.8 | 19.1 | 4.9 | 6.1 | 42% |
Tennessee | 11.7 | 17.5 | 10.2 | 11.6 | 47% |
Maine | 11.5 | 20.2 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 48% |
Vermont | 11.5 | 22.0 | 1.5 | 50% | |
Mississippi | 11.3 | 16.3 | 19.8 | 22.2 | 54% |
South Dakota | 10.9 | 22.7 | 2.8 | 5.0 | 55% |
Utah | 10.9 | 19.3 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 40% |
South Carolina | 10.5 | 15.5 | 10.7 | 12.6 | 45% |
Georgia | 10.3 | 15.5 | 9.5 | 11.2 | 38% |
Indiana | 10.2 | 16.6 | 7.6 | 9.2 | 42% |
Louisiana | 10.0 | 14.9 | 17.4 | 20.4 | 52% |
Iowa | 9.2 | 17.2 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 39% |
Florida | 8.9 | 15.4 | 5.3 | 6.7 | 29% |
North Carolina | 8.7 | 13.7 | 8.1 | 9.4 | 37% |
Texas | 8.6 | 14.2 | 6.6 | 8.1 | 36% |
Ohio | 8.4 | 15.0 | 7.4 | 8.7 | 42% |
Wisconsin | 8.2 | 15.3 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 47% |
Virginia | 8.2 | 13.7 | 5.8 | 7.0 | 35% |
Michigan | 8.1 | 14.8 | 7.0 | 8.2 | 39% |
New Hampshire | 8.0 | 16.1 | 1.1 | 46% | |
Washington | 8.0 | 15.9 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 32% |
Pennsylvania | 7.7 | 14.5 | 6.6 | 8.5 | 40% |
Delaware | 7.6 | 13.7 | 8.0 | 10.3 | 39% |
Nebraska | 7.4 | 14.7 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 39% |
Minnesota | 6.9 | 14.2 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 39% |
Illinois | 5.2 | 11.5 | 10.2 | 11.7 | 23% |
Maryland | 5.0 | 10.1 | 9.6 | 11.5 | 17% |
California | 4.0 | 10.6 | 4.7 | 6.4 | 16% |
Connecticut | 3.4 | 11.1 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 19% |
Rhode Island | 3.3 | 10.7 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 14% |
Hawaii | 2.9 | 14.0 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 9% |
New York | 2.2 | 8.4 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 14% |
New Jersey | 2.1 | 7.4 | 3.0 | 4.4 | 9% |
Massachusetts | 1.9 | 8.6 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 9% |
District of Columbia | 1.8 | 6.9 | 25.2 | 33.3 |
Gun death totals
Data are from the CDC and are for the year 2021.
Missing values indicate between 1 and 9 deaths for the year, so the specific figure is suppressed.
State | Gun deaths |
Suicide | Homicide | Accident | Law |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 48,830 | 26,328 | 20,958 | 549 | 537 |
Texas | 4,613 | 2,528 | 1,942 | 53 | 38 |
California | 3,576 | 1,575 | 1,861 | 32 | 89 |
Florida | 3,142 | 1,928 | 1,150 | 18 | 25 |
Georgia | 2,200 | 1,115 | 1,021 | 25 | 22 |
Illinois | 1,995 | 656 | 1,292 | 15 | 18 |
Ohio | 1,911 | 991 | 872 | 21 | 12 |
Pennsylvania | 1,905 | 997 | 861 | 25 | 13 |
North Carolina | 1,839 | 916 | 850 | 46 | 15 |
Tennessee | 1,569 | 814 | 714 | 11 | |
Michigan | 1,544 | 810 | 701 | ||
Missouri | 1,414 | 747 | 609 | 24 | 15 |
Arizona | 1,365 | 879 | 430 | 26 | |
Alabama | 1,315 | 623 | 650 | 19 | 11 |
Louisiana | 1,314 | 463 | 804 | 27 | |
Indiana | 1,251 | 695 | 517 | 15 | 10 |
Virginia | 1,248 | 709 | 505 | 12 | |
South Carolina | 1,136 | 546 | 558 | 21 | |
New York | 1,078 | 439 | 613 | 15 | |
Colorado | 1,064 | 745 | 276 | 29 | |
Mississippi | 962 | 333 | 583 | 21 | |
Kentucky | 947 | 534 | 364 | 25 | |
Maryland | 915 | 310 | 592 | 0 | |
Washington | 896 | 617 | 254 | ||
Oklahoma | 836 | 551 | 257 | 11 | |
Wisconsin | 793 | 484 | 290 | ||
Arkansas | 698 | 391 | 281 | 11 | |
Oregon | 670 | 505 | 146 | 12 | |
Nevada | 633 | 413 | 199 | ||
New Mexico | 578 | 305 | 230 | 26 | |
Minnesota | 573 | 393 | 164 | 10 | |
Kansas | 503 | 345 | 145 | 10 | |
New Jersey | 475 | 195 | 276 | 0 | |
Utah | 450 | 364 | 70 | ||
Iowa | 364 | 293 | 64 | ||
West Virginia | 319 | 227 | 86 | ||
Idaho | 309 | 262 | 28 | 11 | |
Montana | 280 | 239 | 30 | ||
Connecticut | 248 | 122 | 116 | ||
Massachusetts | 247 | 136 | 99 | 0 | |
Nebraska | 200 | 145 | 46 | ||
District of Columbia | 185 | 12 | 169 | 0 | |
Alaska | 182 | 142 | 31 | ||
Maine | 178 | 158 | 12 | ||
Delaware | 158 | 76 | 80 | 0 | |
Wyoming | 155 | 137 | 10 | ||
North Dakota | 128 | 102 | 20 | 0 | |
South Dakota | 128 | 98 | 25 | 0 | |
New Hampshire | 123 | 111 | |||
Vermont | 83 | 74 | 0 | ||
Hawaii | 71 | 42 | 23 | ||
Rhode Island | 64 | 36 | 27 | 0 |
See also
- Gun violence in the United States
- Gun politics in the United States
- Suicide in the United States
- Crime in the United States
- Index of gun politics articles
Notes
- No data from RAND source. Gallup reports about 40% of adults in the US live with a gun.
- Vermont had between 1 and 9 gun murders in 2021, so the specific figure is suppressed. If it had 5 gun murders, its gun murder rate would be 0.8 per 100 thousand.
- New Hampshire had between 1 and 9 gun murders in 2021, so the specific figure is suppressed. If it had 5 gun murders, its gun murder rate would be 0.4 per 100 thousand.
- No data available.
References
- ● Data through 2016: "Guns / Firearm-related deaths". NSC.org copy of U.S. Government (CDC) data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. December 2017. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018. (archive of actual data).
● 2017 data: Howard, Jacqueline (December 13, 2018). "Gun deaths in US reach highest level in nearly 40 years, CDC data reveal". CNN. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. (2017 CDC data)
● 2018 data: "New CDC Data Show 39,740 People Died by Gun Violence in 2018". efsgv.org. January 31, 2020. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. (2018 CDC data)
● 2019-2023 data: "Past Summary Ledgers". Gun Violence Archive. January 2024. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. -
● Murder Victims by Weapon, 2012–2016, Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. (used only for 2012 and 2013 data)
● Murder Victims by Weapon, 2014–2018, Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020.
● Murder Victims by Weapon, 2015–2019, Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Archived from the original on November 22, 2020. - Mortality data from "Firearm Mortality by State". cdc.gov. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. 2022. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023.
The number of deaths per 100,000 total population. Source: wonder.cdc.gov
● Household firearm ownership data from Schell, Terry L.; Peterson, Samuel; Vegetabile, Brian G.; Scherling, Adam; Smart, Rosanna; Morral, Andrew R. (April 22, 2020). "State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership". rand.org. RAND Corporation. p. 21. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Fig. 2. PDF file (download link) - Sharkey, Patrick; Kang, Megan (November 2023). "The Era of Progress on Gun Mortality: State Gun Regulations and Gun Deaths from 1991 to 2016". Epidemiology. 34 (6): 786–792. doi:10.1097/EDE.0000000000001662. Fig. 2. ● Sharkey et al. are cited by Lopez, German (November 1, 2023). "A Drop in American Gun Violence". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Trendline is from Times article.
- ^ "Underlying Cause of Death". cdc.gov. Retrieved 11 Feb 2024.
- "What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S." pewresearch.org. 26 Apr 2023. Retrieved 16 Feb 2024.
- Klein, Joshua; Prabhakaran, Kartik; Latifi, Rifat; Rhee, Peter (4 Feb 2022). "Firearms: the leading cause of years of potential life lost". Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open. 7: e000766. doi:10.1136/tsaco-2021-000766. PMC 8819782. PMID 35141422. Retrieved 11 Feb 2024.
- Find the "2023 CHR CSV Analytic Data" link. "Rankings Data & Documentation". County Health Rankings. Retrieved 11 Feb 2024.
- "State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership". rand.org. 22 Apr 2020. Retrieved 11 Feb 2024.
- "What Percentage of Americans Own Guns?". gallup.com. 13 Nov 2020. Retrieved 11 Feb 2024.
- ^ "Data Release Questions". cdc.gov. 31 Aug 2023. Retrieved 11 Feb 2024.
United States state-related lists | |
---|---|
List of states and territories of the United States | |
Demographics | |
Economy |
|
Environment | |
Geography | |
Government |
|
Health | |
History | |
Law |
|
Miscellaneous | |
- Deaths by firearm in the United States by state
- Homicide statistics
- Suicides by firearm in the United States
- Lists of states of the United States
- United States demography-related lists
- Health in the United States
- Death in the United States-related lists
- Gun violence in the United States
- States of the United States law-related lists