Gun death statistics per capita in the usa

1. National per‑capita baseline: what the broad numbers show

Multiple independent analyses of CDC mortality data put the U.S. gun‑death rate in the low‑to‑mid teens per 100,000 residents: Pew finds 13.7 gun deaths per 100,000 in 2023 after adjusting for population, and Everytown reports an average near 46,684 gun deaths per year (roughly consistent with a rate in that range) using CDC provisional data for 2020–2024 ^{[2] [1]}. Johns Hopkins’ Center for Gun Violence Solutions similarly counted about 46,728 firearm deaths in 2023, underscoring that the nation continues to see tens of thousands of firearm fatalities annually ^[5]. Real‑time trackers such as Gun Violence Archive provide incident‑level reporting that tends to confirm year‑to‑date trends and short‑term declines or rises but rely on media and public records rather than death‑certificate coding ^{[6] [7]}.

2. Suicide is the largest component of per‑capita gun deaths

More than half of U.S. gun deaths are suicides: Everytown and Johns Hopkins both highlight that suicides make up the plurality or majority of firearm fatalities, and Brady notes that roughly 60% of gun deaths are suicides while homicides account for roughly 37% ^{[1] [5] [8]}. That composition matters for per‑capita comparisons and policy responses because the drivers, settings and prevention strategies for suicide differ from those for homicide or accidental shootings ^{[5] [8]}.

3. State‑level disparities: a wide spread in per‑100,000 rates

State rates vary dramatically: World Population Review lists top state rates per 100,000 such as Alaska (24.4), Mississippi (24.2), and Wyoming and New Mexico (22.3), while several Northeastern states — Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Rhode Island — report fewer than five gun deaths per 100,000 ^[3]. The CDC’s age‑adjusted state maps and tables reflect similar geographic patterns and caution that small counts can make some state rankings unstable, but the overall message is clear: per‑capita risk is strongly regional ^{[4] [3]}.

4. Who bears the burden: demographic gaps in per‑capita mortality

Per‑capita gun death risk is concentrated unevenly across demographics: analyses indicate higher rates for men, older adults in some age bands, and substantial racial disparities — for example, Black Americans face markedly higher per‑capita homicide risk while Native American/Alaska Native rates are high in certain places, and suicides drive elevated rates among older white men in other groups ^{[9] [10]}. Sources note methodological caveats: some datasets use different year ranges, age‑adjustment, or include police shootings in homicide totals, which affects comparisons ^{[11] [4]}.

5. What gets talked about versus what drives per‑capita totals

Mass shootings command public attention but account for a small share of per‑capita gun deaths — under 2% of the total according to Commonwealth Fund reporting — while most deaths stem from suicides and neighborhood homicides ^[12]. Advocacy groups (Everytown, Brady, Project Unloaded) emphasize daily death counts and preventive policies and therefore highlight different facets than neutral data trackers like the CDC or Gun Violence Archive; readers should note those institutional perspectives when interpreting the numbers ^{[1] [8] [6]}.

6. Limits and takeaways for interpreting per‑capita statistics

Per‑capita rates are the standard way to compare burden across time and place, but they depend on definitions (age‑adjusted vs. crude rates), data timeliness (provisional CDC data vs. finalized death certificates), and categorization of intent (homicide, suicide, unintentional) — differences that the CDC, Everytown and other analysts explicitly call out ^{[4] [11] [1]}. In short, the U.S. national per‑capita gun‑death rate sits in the mid‑teens per 100,000, with large state and demographic variation and a policy implication that addressing suicides and concentrated urban homicides will move the national rate most.