How many people die by suicide in the United States each year?
Data updated July 19, 2024
About 49,476 people died by suicide in 2022. In other words, there were about 14.2 suicides for every 100,000 people in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says several factors cause suicide and they exist at individual, community, and societal levels.
Showing data for
In 2022,
49.5K
people died by suicide
In 2022,
14.2
people died by suicide per 100,000
The rate of suicides in the US increased over the past 20 years. This change occurred alongside changes in the age and size of the population. The risk of suicide varies by age, so analyzing suicides with an age-adjusted rate, which accounts for these factors, provides a clearer understanding of trends over time.
The suicide rate has increased by 30.3% over the past 20 years.
Age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 people
Notably, from 2018 to 2020, the rate decreased by 5% but began to rise again in 2021. In 2022, the age-adjusted suicide rate in the US was 14.2. This represents a 30.3 percentage increase compared to 20 years earlier.
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Suicide rates vary by age and gender. Older male adults have the highest suicide rate. Males who are 80–84 years old have the highest suicide rate in the US which is about 11.1 times higher than their female counterparts.
In 2022, suicide rates were higher for men than women across most age groups.
Deaths per 100,000 by age group
Race also plays a role in suicide risk. Despite American Indian/Alaska Native people comprising less than 1 percent of the nation's population, their suicide rate is nearly double the total national rate.
In 2022, American Indian or Alaska Native people died by suicide at a higher rate than any other race.
Age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 people
American Indian/Alaska Native people were at the highest risk of suicide in 2022, with an age-adjusted rate of 27.1 per 100,000, which is greater than the national rate of 14.2.
Suicide rates also vary by geography. Montana had the highest age-adjusted rate of suicide at 28.7 per 100,000 while the District of Columbia had the lowest at 6.1.
Montana had the highest suicide rate in 2022.
Age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 people
