Friday, November 18, 2022

Ten States with the Highest Firearm Death Rates

In 2020, more than 45,200 deaths in the U.S. were the result of firearm incidents.  At 13.7 deaths per 100,000 population, the 2020 firearm death rate was 33% higher than it was twenty-one years earlier in 1999 (10.3 deaths per 100,000 population).  While the 2020 national firearm death rate stood at 13.7 fatalities per 100,000 population, at the state level there was much disparity in death rates with some states experiencing far worse problems with firearms-caused deaths than others.  The ten states with the highest firearm death rates in 2020 had a collective death rate from firearm incidents that was over 75% higher than the national average.  Further examination of data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics revealed the following details for the ten states with the highest firearm death rates in 2020:

Ten States with the Highest Firearm Death Rates

State Deaths Population Death Rate*
Mississippi 818 2,966,786 27.6
Wyoming 154 582,328 26.4
Louisiana 1,183 4,645,318 25.5
Alaska 175 731,158 23.9
District of Columbia 167 712,816 23.4
Alabama 1,141 4,921,532 23.2
Missouri 1,426 6,151,548 23.2
New Mexico 479 2,106,319 22.7
Arkansas 673 3,030,522 22.2
Montana 238 1.080,577 22.0
     Total 6,454 26,928,904 24.0
U.S. 45,222 329,484,123 13.7

(*) number of firearm-caused deaths per 100,000 population

Source: CDC Wonder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2020 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2020, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed on November 14, 2022

related commentary:  Regional Gun Death Rates in the U.S.

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