SUICIDE STATISTICS PAGE
Suicide in the United States
Over 48,000 Americans died by suicide in 2018. According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death for those aged 1-44.
Hedegaard H, Curtin SC, Warner M. Increase in suicide mortality in the United States, 1999–2018. NCHS Data Brief, no 362. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2020
Deaths by suicide are reported in terms of the number of deaths per 100,000 individuals. Washington State's rate in 2019 was 16.6 per 100,000. The national average was 14.5 during that same period.
Drapeau, C. W., & McIntosh, J. L. (for the American Association of Suicidology). (2020). U.S.A. suicide: 2019 Official final data. Washington, DC: American Association of Suicidology, dated December 23, 2020, downloaded from http://www.suicidology.org
Suicide Rates by Demographics
Suicide rates by demographic:
- Whites: 16.84
- American Indian/Alaska Native: 14.12
- Black/African American: 7.03
- Asian/Pacific Islander: 7.6
- Veterans suicide rates are 1.5x the rate of non-veterans
Suicide rates by age
Older adults have the highest rates of suicide in the United States. However, since 1950, the suicide rate for older adults has decreased, while rates for those age 24 and under has increased dramatically.
The suicide rate for youth aged 24 and under increased by 67% in Washington State between 2010 and 2018—only six states had a higher increase.
National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 69, No. 11, September 11, 2020 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/nvsr-69-11-508.pdf
Suicide rates by occupation:
According to a 2016 study by the Centers for Disease Control, the occupations with the highest incidence of suicide were:
Men
- Construction and extraction
- Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
- Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
- Transportation and Material Moving
Women
- Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
- Protective Service (police, fire, etc.)
- Health Care Support
- Food Preparation and Serving Related
Peterson C, Stone DM, Marsh SM, et al. Suicide Rates by Major Occupational Group — 17 States, 2012 and 2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:1253–1260. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6745a1
Suicide in Kitsap County
The suicide rate in Kitsap County is similar to that for Washington State. The age of those dying by suicide is consistent with national trends—older adults tend to die by suicide more often. There has been a increase in the number of deaths by suicide in Kitsap County since 2017.
There is concern about the number of youth saying they have considered suicide in the past year. According to the Healthy Youth Survey, 28% of 10th graders in Kitsap County seriously considered suicide the year before taking the survey. On a positive note, almost half reported feeling hopeful about the future.
