How many drug overdose deaths happen every year in Virginia?

Data updated July 19, 2024

2,496 overdose deaths in 2022. That means that for every 100,000 people living in Virginia, 29 died of drug overdose. This was the second highest the drug overdose death rate had been in the state since data from 1999 became available.

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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 2022, Virginia had a drug overdose death rate 12% lower than the US rate overall. The drug overdose death rate in Virginia increased in 18 of the last 23 years for which data is available. The overdose death rate has increased 68% since 2018 and has increased 2.8 times since 2013.

In 2022, Virginia had a drug overdose death rate lower than the US rate.

Drug-involved overdose deaths in Virginia, age-adjusted rate per 100,000 people

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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 2022, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug, making up 79% of total overdose deaths in Virginia. The rates of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids and cocaine increased by 77 times and 9.3 times, respectively, between 1999 and 2022.

In 2022, fentanyl was involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug.

Drug-involved overdose deaths in Virginia, 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 2022, the death rate for overdoses in Virginia ranged from 7 per 100,000 in Loudoun County to 122 per 100,000 in Hopewell city.

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 (2022)

Drug-involved overdose deaths per 100,000 people (2022)
1.	Hopewell city	121.9
2.	Roanoke city	114.5
3.	Buchanan County	113.7
4.	Petersburg city	98.8
5.	Richmond city	95.5
6.	Portsmouth city	94.8
7.	Henry County	84.2
8.	Halifax County	59.4
9.	Tazewell County	57.8
10.	Norfolk city	50.2

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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.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Health Statistics and National Center for Health Statistics