Number of gun related deaths in US per year
Executive summary
The United States experiences roughly 45,000–48,000 gun-related deaths per year in recent reporting, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) counting about 46,728–46,728 fatalities in 2023 and provisional estimates placing 2024 lower at roughly 44,400 [1] [2] [3]. These totals mask important distinctions—most firearm deaths are suicides, homicide trends shifted after pandemic peaks, and different trackers use different methods and inclinations that shape public perception [4] [2] [5].
1. The headline numbers: what official counts show
Official mortality data compiled from CDC sources show that nearly 47,000 people died of gun-related injuries in 2023, commonly reported as 46,728, and that 2021 remains the high-water mark with 48,830 deaths; provisional 2024 figures and some analyses suggest a decline toward roughly 44,400 that year [1] [6] [3] [2]. On a per-capita basis the CDC-based reporting puts 2023 at about 13.7 gun deaths per 100,000 people, illustrating that absolute totals and rates can tell different stories as population changes [2].
2. Intent matters: suicides dominate the totals
More than half of firearm deaths are suicides—CDC-derived breakdowns and multiple analyses report that roughly 58% of gun deaths in recent years were suicides, with firearm suicide counts rising and peaking in 2023 near 27,300 deaths, while gun homicides declined from pandemic peaks [4] [2] [1]. Because many public conversations focus on mass shootings and homicides, the predominance of suicide in the totals is a recurring source of misunderstanding about the composition of gun mortality [4].
3. Homicides, mass shootings and the pandemic bump
Homicides by firearm surged during the COVID-era years, peaking in 2021 at about 20,958 gun murders, then falling to roughly 17,927 in 2023, a decline of about 14% from that peak, while non‑mass, everyday homicides remain a significant portion of overall gun deaths [2]. Mass‑shooting trackers such as the Gun Violence Archive focus on incident counts and typically omit suicides, which explains why their year‑to‑year tallies differ from CDC totals and why discussions anchored on GVA numbers can understate the full scale of firearm mortality [5] [7].
4. Data sources, methods and limits
Most public figures derive from CDC vital‑statistics systems (WONDER/NCHS), which code underlying cause and intent on death certificates and are the basis for the 46,700–47,000 2023 figures and most state comparisons [8] [1]. Advocacy groups and research centers republish or reanalyze those data—Brady, Everytown, Johns Hopkins and others each emphasize different slices (homicide, suicide, state patterns or policy links), and their institutional agendas shape which statistics they foreground [9] [10] [11].
5. Why counts differ between reputable sources
Discrepancies between sources result from timing (final vs provisional data), scope (some trackers exclude suicides), multi‑year averaging, and editorial emphasis: CDC provisional files used by USAFacts produced a 2024 estimate of ~44.4K, while injury‑prevention sites and encyclopedic summaries report 46,728 for 2023; advocacy groups may round or highlight specific subcounts like Brady’s annual homicide figure of about 15,343, which reflects a chosen definition and timeframe [3] [1] [9] [4]. Those methodological choices are not neutral and often align with public‑policy goals.
6. Geographic and demographic contours
Gun death rates vary widely by state and demographic group; state mortality maps built on CDC data show divergent rates and underscore that national totals conceal concentrated harms in certain communities—rural vs urban differences, racial disparities in firearm homicide, and youth-specific trends have all been documented in the CDC and academic summaries [8] [4] [11]. Recognizing these contours is essential for policy targeting but is sometimes downplayed in national headline counts.
7. Bottom line and caveats for interpretation
The best short answer is that recent U.S. annual firearm deaths have been in the mid‑40,000s to high‑40,000s: about 46,700 in 2023 (nearly 47,000) and provisional estimates suggest a decline into the mid‑40,000s in 2024 [1] [3]. Any single number should be read alongside intent breakdowns, year-to-year volatility from pandemic effects, and the methodological choices of the source cited—CDC vital statistics remain the baseline, while specialized trackers and advocacy groups will highlight different slices for policy or public awareness purposes [8] [5] [9].