States with the highest rate of gun-related fatalities
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's most recent data, released in April 2024, there was a slight improvement in the number of gun-related deaths in the United States. There were 48,204 deaths due to firearms in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, down a little bit from the record 48,830 in 2021.
Still, those numbers are strikingly high—based on the 2022 data, 132 people die from a firearm-related injury each day and about 90% of the deaths on account of firearm wounds were self-inflicted or homicides. In June 2024, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy described gun violence as a nationwide public health crisis, citing the fact that firearm-related injuries have become the top cause of death among children and teens under 20 years old.
The numbers also vary based on demographics. The CDC specifically looks at age, race, and ethnicity, noting firearm-related homicides are more common among people ages 15 to 34 and particularly among Black, Indigenous, and Latino people. But there are also different rates for gun-related deaths depending on where you live.
Stacker cited data from the CDC to look at the rate of gun-related fatalities in every state. Five-year averages between 2017 and 2021 are used and fatalities are broken down by firearm assault and intentional self-harm using a firearm. Additional categories classified by CDC Wonder include incidents involving law enforcement, unintentional discharge, and undetermined intent. Deaths from operations of war and terrorism involving firearms are not included in overall calculations.
