Death rate for suicide in the U.S. 1950-2021, by gender

Since the 1950s, the suicide rate in the United States has been significantly higher among men than women. In 2019, the suicide rate among men was over 3.5 times higher than that of women. However, the rate of suicide for both men and women has increased gradually over the past couple of decades.

Facts on suicide in the United States

In 2019, the rate of suicide death in the United States was around 14 per 100,000 population. Although the suicide rate in the U.S. has generally increased since the year 2000, this was a slight drop in the rate seen in 2018. In the United States, death rates from suicide are highest among those aged 45 to 64 years and lowest among younger adults aged 15 to 24. The states with the highest rates of suicide are Wyoming, Alaska, and Montana, while New Jersey and New York have the lowest rates.

Suicide among men

In 2020, around 4.5 percent of men in the United States reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Although this rate is lower than that of women, men still have a higher rate of suicide death than women. One reason for this may have to do with the method of suicide. Although firearms account for the largest share of suicide deaths among both men and women, firearms account for almost 58 percent of all suicides among men and just 33 percent among women. Suffocation and poisoning are the other most common methods of suicide among women, with the chances of surviving a suicide attempt from these methods being much higher than surviving an attempt by firearm. The age group with the highest rate of suicide death among men is by far those aged 75 years and over.