25 States with the Highest Suicide Rates in America

Have you ever wondered which those states with the highest suicide rates in America are?

Around 800,000 people commit suicide annually, and suicide has become among the top causes of death for adolescents and young adults of 15-29 years. A great majority of suicides happens in low- and middle-income countries. Among some of the highest suicidal countries are Zimbabwe, Uruguay, and Cameroon, but also some wealthier countries like Poland, Latvia or Hungary (for the full list go through the 30 Countries with the Highest Suicide Rate in the World). Since we are here, you might also be interested in highest suicidal cities in 2017, so you can check out our article 26 Highest Suicidal Cities in the World. We are sure that highest suicidal cities 2016 list is somewhat similar.

And what is the situation in the US? According to the World Health Organization’s report for World Health Statistics 2017, annual crude suicide mortality rate per 100,000 people in the US is 14.3 which is a relatively high figure (compared to global suicide rate which is 10.7 per 100,000 people). If you are interested in data concerning the highest suicidal states in 2017, go to the 11 States with the Highest Suicide Rates in America.

Among the important factors that impact suicide is depression a condition with growing rates. In the US only, for example, 16.1 million adults (or 6.7% of adults) suffer from depression, and the majority of that belongs to age group between 18 and 25 years. Depression rates by state vary, and according to some data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2010, among the top depressed states are Mississippi (14.8%), West Virginia (14.3%), Alabama (13%), Oklahoma (11.3%) and Tennessee (11%).

Preventing suicide is very important, and especially recognizing first signs of problems, since a lot of them happens as a result of some mental illness. But on the other side, some suicides happen unpredictably, after some emotional breakdown such as financial problems or everyday life stresses. It seems that economic status is one of the major depression causes, having in mind that population below the poverty level is 2.5 times more stricken by the depression than the population living above the poverty level.

To see which states with the highest suicide rates in America are, we have searched for some statistical data. We have gathered figures from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, with the freshest data from 2015 concerning this issue. So, we have made our rankings according to a number of suicide deaths per 100.000 people.

Let’s proceed now next to see which states with the highest suicide rates in America are:

25. Vermont

Suicide death rate: 14.8

In 2013 suicide was the 8^th cause of death in Vermont, and it was mainly caused by mental disorder and alcohol and drug abuse. The male population is more prone to commit suicide, as much a 3.5 times more than women.

24. Alabama

Suicide death rate: 14.9

Alabama is one of the states with the highest suicide rates in America. Even though suicide is the second cause of death in the younger population, most of the suicides in Alabama are committed by adults, namely white males aged 40-54.

23. Louisiana

Suicide death rate: 15.2

Unlike the most states, Louisiana has the highest rate of suicide of elderly men than any other age group. Major causes of these suicides are depression and declining health condition in older age, apart from alcohol and drugs abuse, bad economic status, life stress, etc.

22. Washington

Suicide death rate: 15.4

Suicide rates in Washington have risen by 7% in the period between 1999 and 2014, which is an alarming figure, but it is not as high as it is in some other states that you will see later. Nevertheless, suicide rates in Washington are for about 10% than it is the national average.

21. Tennessee

Suicide death rate: 15.7

Tennessee had the highest suicide rate recorded in 2016, which was about 4% higher than the year before and the highest in last 35 years. Most of suicide the victims were middle-aged men living in rural areas.

20. Maine

Suicide death rate: 16.1

Maine is one of the states with the highest suicide rates in America, and this trend is increasing. As in many states, suicide is a second leading cause of death in the younger population aged 10-24 and young adults of 25-34.

19. Kansas

Suicide death rate: 16.3

Suicide is a second leading cause in teenage and young adult group in Kansas, and has recently become the third cause of death in children of 5 to 14 years of age! The suicide rate in Kansas is increasing slowly as well.

18. New Hampshire

Suicide death rate: 16.5

The suicide rate has slowly been increasing in last 10 years in New Hampshire. Some indicators for high suicide rates could be bad weather conditions, high rate of drug abuse, and a high percentage of guns per household.

17. Missouri

Suicide death rate: 17.1

Missouri’s second leading cause of death in youth and young adults (15-24 years) is suicide. Suicide rates are higher than homicide (twice as much), and deaths caused by accidents for example. Тхе мain mean of suicide committing is firearms in men and poisoning and suffocation in women.

16. Kentucky

Suicide death rate: 17.1

Suicide rates among teens are high in Kentucky (8.2% of high school children attempting suicide in 2016), and the trend is not decreasing. Teens and children from grades 7-12 seem to be the most vulnerable population and the most prone to commit suicide.

15. West Virginia

Suicide death rate: 17.4

According to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, around dozen people attempt a suicide every day. It is not surprising that West Virginia is among the states with the highest suicide rates in America, since it is among the top states with the highest depression rates as well.

14. North Dakota

Suicide death rate: 17.5

Suicide rates in North Dakota have risen around 70% in the period between 2004 and 2014. The trend is mostly noticed among high school teenagers. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for a population of 10-24 years of age in this state.

13. Oregon

Suicide death rate: 17.8

As being one of the states with highest suicide rates in America, the suicide rate has been increasing since 2000. Men are more prone to commit suicide than women (for 3.6%), and around 25% of suicides were committed by veterans.

12. Arizona

Suicide death rate: 18.2

Arizona has a huge problem in child suicides. Suicide is the leading cause of death in children aged 10-14. In 2016 youngest victim of suicide was only 9 years old.

11. Nevada

Suicide death rate: 18.4

Deaths by suicide have doubled in the period from 1981 to 2013 in Nevada, and it is leading to senior suicides, and interestingly women suicides by guns. Las Vegas has also been named the suicide capital of America, having double suicide rates than the US average.

10. Arkansas

Suicide death rate: 19.1

With 19.11 suicides per 100,000 people, Arkansas is one of the states with highest suicide rates in America. But not only that, statistically, one suicide is committed in Arkansas every 15 minutes. Suicide is among top 10 death causes in general, and the second cause of death for ages 25-34.

9. Colorado

Suicide death rate: 19.5

One of the latest tragedies in Colorado recently was a 10-year-old girl committing suicide because she was bullied. But that was not an isolated case. It seems that suicide rate in children under 18 in Colorado is increasing: in 2016 ten in 100,000 children committed suicide. And that pattern has been on during the last decade.

8. Oklahoma

Suicide death rate: 20.3

There are 17.2 suicide deaths per 100.000 people in Oklahoma, and Tulsa is being one of the US cities with highest suicide rates (37% higher than the national average). Interestingly, 80% of all suicides are being committed by men.

7. South Dakota

Suicide death rate: 20.4

Suicides are second cause of death in teenagers and young adults in South Dakota, being one of the states with the highest suicide rates in America. Also, suicide is among 10 leading causes of death in men in this state.

6. Idaho

Suicide death rate: 22.1

Suicide is the second cause of death in Idaho, with the 57% higher suicide rate than the US average. Most of the suicides are committed by men (as much as 78%). Even bigger problem in Idaho are the teenage and children suicides – in the period between 2012 and 2016 105 children under 18 committed suicide.

5. Utah

Suicide death rate:  22.4

Utah has a serious issue with suicides, and on a good way to become the top state with highest suicide rates in America. Namely, the suicide rate in Utah is increasing four times faster than in the rest of the country every year. The alarming fact is that youth suicide rate has risen as much as 141% in the period between 2011 and 2015!

4. New Mexico

Suicide death rate: 23.7

The suicide rate in New Mexico is among the top in the US, though recent years have shown a slight decrease in suicides in this state. From 2015 to 2016 a 6% drop in suicides was noticed in New Mexico, and it seems that luckily this trend is continuing.

3. Montana

Suicide death rate: 25.3

Montana has a long history of being one of the states with the highest suicide rates in America. It has been among top 5 in the last 40 years. Main reasons for high suicide rates in Montana represent social isolation, a high alcoholism rate, high percentage of firearms per household, high poverty rate, lack of sufficient mental health infrastructure.

2. Alaska

Suicide death rate: 26.9

It seems that rural areas and Native Alaskan villages have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. An interesting study, on the other hand, shows that suicide rate in Alaska is more likely to get higher with the higher latitudes, for every 5 degrees in latitude suicide is 18% higher.  The cause of this phenomenon is yet not clear, but it is an interesting fact nevertheless.

1. Wyoming

Suicide death rate: 28.0

Although being the state with the highest suicide rate in America, Wyoming does not have the highest number of people committing suicide, since it only has a population about 585,000. Nevertheless, statistics show that there are around 21 suicides for every 100,000 people which is a high number.

That wraps it up for our list of states with the highest suicide rates in America.