Suicide Death Rates for U.S. Counties

Average annual suicide rates vary significantly across the country.

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Nearly 45,000 Americans died from suicide in 2016, making it one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

The national age-adjusted suicide rate was 13.5 deaths per 100,000 population. The rate has slowly ticked up in recent years and currently stands at one of the highest levels seen in decades.

Suicide rates vary greatly across different regions of the country. Research indicates that demographics, access to care, the availability of firearms and cultural differences are among several factors that influence numbers of suicides. In general, rural and outlying county jurisdictions have recorded the highest suicide rates:



County Urbanization Population 2016 Suicide Rate
Non-Core Area Outside of MSAs and micropolitan areas 18.9 per 100k
Micropolitan Area Urban cluster: 10,000 - 49,999 17.4 per 100k
Small Metro Area Less than 250,000 16.3 per 100k
Medium Metro Area 250,000 - 999,999 15 per 100k
Large Fringe Metro Area 1 million or more 12.3 per 100k
Large Central Metro Area 1 million or more 10.6 per 100k
SOURCE: 2016 age-adjusted suicide rates, CDC NCHS Wonder database
The following map depicts annual average age-adjusted suicide rates for counties between 2012 and 2016. Rural and western areas typically experienced higher numbers of suicides, as they have historically. Data was unavailable or considered to be unreliable for many mostly less-populated areas, shown in gray.



2012-16 Average Annual Suicides Per 100,000
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
> 0  >= 10   >= 15   >= 20   >= 25    Data not reported

 



 
SOURCE: 2012-16 average annual age-adjusted suicide rates obtained from National Center for Health Statistics, CDC WONDER online database
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Mike Maciag is Data Editor for GOVERNING.
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