How many drug overdose deaths happen every year in Texas?
5,687 overdose deaths in 2023. That means that for every 100,000 people living in Texas, 19 died of drug overdose. This was the 1st highest the drug overdose death rate has been in the state since data from 1999 became available.
Data updated July 19, 2024
In 2023,
19
per 100,000 people died of overdoses
In 2023,
5.7K
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, Texas had a drug overdose death rate lower than the US rate overall, nearly 41% lower. The drug overdose death rate in Texas increased in 16 of the last 24 years in which data is available. The overdose death rate increased 78% since 2018 and increased 99% since 2013.
In 2023, Texas had a drug overdose death rate lower than the US rate.
Drug-involved overdose deaths in Texas, 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 46% of total overdose deaths in Texas. The rates of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl and methamphetamine increased 43.5 and 38.5 times, respectively, between 1999 and 2023.
In 2023, fentanyl was involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug.
Drug-involved overdose deaths in Texas, 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 Texas ranged from 7 per 100,000 in Hidalgo County to 42 per 100,000 in Orange 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. | Orange County | 42.0 |
| 2. | Webb County | 30.1 |
| 3. | Liberty County | 28.6 |
| 4. | Travis County | 26.6 |
| 5. | Dallas County | 25.1 |
| 6. | Galveston County | 24.6 |
| 7. | Johnson County | 24.1 |
| 8. | Jefferson County | 23.9 |
| 9. | Tarrant County | 22.6 |
| 10. | Bastrop County | 22.6 |
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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.
