How many drug overdose deaths happen every year in Colorado?
1872 overdose deaths in 2023. That means that for every 100,000 people living in Colorado, 32 died of drug overdose. This was the 2nd highest the drug overdose death rate has been in the state since data from 1999 became available.
Data updated July 19, 2024
In 2023,
32
per 100,000 people died of overdoses
In 2023,
1.9K
people died of overdoses
Unadjusted data about the nation is a useful starting point, but age-adjusted data tells a more complete story. Age-adjusting accounts for differences in age distributions across populations, which is crucial when comparing health outcomes since age is a major risk factor for many conditions. This adjustment enables fairer comparisons of mortality rates between different groups or over time. The rest of the data on this page is age-adjusted.
In 2023, Colorado had a drug overdose death rate 2% lower than the US rate overall, nearly 2% lower. The drug overdose death rate in Colorado increased in 18 of the last 24 years in which data is available. The overdose death rate increased 82% since 2018 and increased 97% since 2013.
In 2023, Colorado had a drug overdose death rate lower than the US rate.
Drug-involved overdose deaths in Colorado, age-adjusted rate per 100,000 people
The rise in drug overdose deaths nationally has been due to growing use of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, however, this may vary by state. In 2023, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have been involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug, making up 61% of total overdose deaths in Colorado. The rates of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl and methamphetamine increased 38 and 26.6 times, respectively, between 1999 and 2023.
In 2023, fentanyl was involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug.
Drug-involved overdose deaths in Colorado, age-adjusted rate per 100,000 people
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Although drug overdose deaths are on the rise, they affect geographic areas differently. In 2023, the death rate for overdoses in Colorado ranged from 13 per 100,000 in Douglas County to 58 per 100,000 in El Paso County.
Occasionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will mark data as either suppressed or unreliable. Suppression occurs when data does not meet confidentiality requirements. As a result, data may not be available for every county in this state. Age-adjusted data is also not available at the county level. County-level tables reflect the most recent year of available data.
Drug-involved overdose deaths per 100,000 people (2023)
| 1. | El Paso County | 57.8 |
| 2. | Denver County | 49.5 |
| 3. | Pueblo County | 41.3 |
| 4. | Adams County | 34.1 |
| 5. | Arapahoe County | 28.0 |
| 6. | Jefferson County | 27.9 |
| 7. | Mesa County | 23.8 |
| 8. | Boulder County | 19.3 |
| 9. | Larimer County | 18.1 |
| 10. | Weld County | 16.7 |
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
