Suicide became the 10th-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2024, up from No. 11 in 2023, according to final mortality data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Suicide deaths fell 1% over the same period, from 49,316 in 2023 to 48,824 in 2024, and accounted for 1.6% of all deaths in both years. Suicide’s move into the top 10 happened as COVID-19 deaths declined 37%, dropping COVID-19 from 10th to 15th.
Recent data show patterns that differ by method, age and geography. Gun suicides reached record levels for a fifth straight year even as the overall suicide rate trended down. Emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts declined among adolescents but rose among adults 26 and older. In 2025, rates ranged from 5.3 per 100,000 in the District of Columbia to 31 in Alaska. At the same time, researchers, children’s hospitals and states are pursuing a range of prevention approaches, from smartphone-based risk forecasting and universal ED screening to firearm access laws.
Here are seven things to know about the state of suicide in the U.S.
1. Suicide ranks highest among younger adults and males. Suicide was the second-leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 24, at 19.2% of deaths, and among those ages 25 to 44, at 10.6%. It ranked eighth among adults ages 45 to 64 and was not among the 10 leading causes for older age groups. Suicide ranked seventh among males, accounting for 2.4% of male deaths, and was not among the 10 leading causes of death for females.
2. Rates vary widely by state. Alaska had the highest suicide rate in the U.S. in 2025, at 31 per 100,000 individuals, according to a KFF analysis of provisional CDC data. That was more than double the national rate of 13.7 per 100,000. Montana (28) and Wyoming (27.9) followed. New Jersey had the lowest rate among states, at 7.2 per 100,000, and the District of Columbia’s rate was 5.3. KFF noted that provisional data are often incomplete and may underestimate rates compared with final data.
3. Firearms accounted for more than half of suicide deaths. More than 28,000 people died by gun suicide last year, more than half of all suicide deaths nationwide, based on preliminary federal figures. While the overall suicide rate has recently trended down, gun suicides reached record levels for a fifth consecutive year. Research also shows predicting who is at risk of suicide has remained only marginally better than chance across five decades of study. Limiting access to firearms could have the greatest effect on preventing suicide deaths, Paul Nestadt, MD, medical director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention, told KFF Health News.
“Instead of asking every doctor to figure out which patient will die by suicide and locking that patient up, it might be that we need to make sure there aren’t loaded guns available,” Dr. Nestadt said.
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have enacted some version of extreme risk protection orders, also known as red flag laws. Evidence suggests about one suicide is prevented for every 10 to 20 firearms confiscated under the laws. Connecticut’s permit-to-purchase requirement was tied to about a 15% drop in gun suicide rates, while Missouri saw a 16% increase after repealing a similar law.
4. ED visits for suspected suicide attempts declined overall, but rose among older adults. The proportion of ED visits for suspected suicide attempts fell 7%, from 16.6 per 10,000 ED visits in 2021 to 15.5 per 10,000 in 2025, according to a CDC study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Patients ages 12 to 17 had the highest visit proportion throughout the study period, at 82.2 per 10,000 ED visits, and females in that age group had the highest rate, at 120 per 10,000. Visit proportions fell 20.8% among adolescents but rose across adult age groups 26 and older, with the largest increases among adults ages 55 to 64 (15.2%) and 65 and older (12.3%).
5. Pediatric suicide-related ED visits increased 74% from 2016 to 2022. Suicide-related ED visits among children ages 5 to 17 rose 74% from 2016 to 2022, according to a study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine that represented more than 5 million pediatric mental health ED visits. About half of suicide-related visits occurred at hospitals with fewer than 10,000 pediatric ED visits annually. At EDs with the lowest pediatric volumes, nearly 30% of children seen for mental health conditions were transferred to other hospitals for definitive care. Researchers recommended universal suicide screening for children at every ED.
6. Researchers are testing real-time tools to forecast suicide risk. Frequent smartphone check-ins predicted 75% of suicide attempts and 87% of suicide-related events, such as hospitalization, in the following seven days, according to Harvard research reported by The Boston Globe. Researchers followed 619 adults and adolescents who had sought care for suicidal thoughts or behavior at two Boston-area hospitals; participants received surveys six times a day for three months. Each one-point increase in agitation among adults was associated with an 11% increase in the odds of a suicide attempt in the following week. Fewer than half of the surveys sent were opened, and participation declined over the study period. The study will be published in the October issue of the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.
7. Children’s hospitals are expanding suicide prevention efforts internationally. The Children’s Hospital Association, Speak Our Minds, Children’s Healthcare Canada and Children’s Hospital Alliance UK launched the Global Preventing Youth Suicide Collaborative, which will connect pediatric health and mental health leaders in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. The effort follows CHA’s Behavioral Health Learning Collaborative, which involved more than 40 children’s hospitals and conducted more than 1 million youth suicide risk screenings. More than 40% of young people in the U.S. who have attempted suicide visited a healthcare provider in the preceding month.
“Children’s hospitals have a critical opportunity to identify young people at risk and connect them with support, often before a crisis occurs,” said Matthew Cook, CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association.
At the Becker's Fall Behavioral Health Summit, taking place November 4–5 in Chicago, behavioral health leaders and executives will explore strategies for expanding access to care, integrating services, addressing workforce challenges and leveraging innovation to improve outcomes across the behavioral health continuum. Apply for complimentary registration now.
