How do suicide attempt and death rates among transgender adults compare to cisgender adults in U.S. studies published 2020–2025?

1. The headline numbers: lifetime attempts versus annual behavior

Large, recent U.S. probability and population surveys place lifetime suicide‑attempt prevalence among transgender adults at roughly four in ten: the TransPop analysis reported 44% lifetime attempts and the Williams Institute summary phrases “more than 40%” ^[1]. Those figures contrast with established estimates for the U.S. adult population (often cited near 4–5% lifetime attempts), a gap of roughly an order of magnitude noted in secondary summaries ^[2]. Point‑in‑time (past‑year) figures are lower but still elevated: some studies report past‑year ideation around 30% and past‑year attempts around 4% in transgender samples — figures that underscore continuing, acute risk rather than only historical experiences ^{[3] [2]}.

2. Multiple studies, multiple methods — same direction, different magnitudes

Academic clinic‑based cohorts, health‑system analyses, and national probability samples all find higher suicidality among transgender people but with widely varying magnitude. Clinic and specialty cohorts historically reported very high lifetime attempt proportions (up to ~44% in some older reports), population surveys like TransPop give similar high lifetime estimates, while some clinical mortality and administrative datasets focus on all‑cause deaths and external causes rather than directly measuring attempts ^{[1] [4]}. This methodological heterogeneity explains why absolute percentages vary across reports even though all show elevated risk ^{[1] [4]}.

3. Subgroups matter: age, gender identity, race and social position

Reports emphasize important within‑group differences. Younger transgender people consistently show higher ideation and attempt rates ^[3]. Nonbinary respondents and transgender women in many samples report particularly elevated ideation in some analyses; clinic and health‑system work finds variation by assigned sex at birth and by subgroup ^{[5] [6]}. Advocacy and public‑health trackers also highlight racial disparities in violent deaths and risk exposures — for example young Black transfeminine people face especially high rates of lethal violence in U.S. tracking reports ^{[7] [8]}.

4. Deaths and violent homicides are a related but distinct problem

Reports and trackers document rising counts of violent deaths of transgender people in the U.S. (dozens per year in advocacy tallies) and signal concentration by region and race; these counts typically exclude suicide and are compiled from media and advocacy sources because official death‑record systems rarely include gender‑identity fields ^{[9] [10]}. Academic mortality analyses using insurance or primary‑care data find elevated all‑cause and external‑cause mortality among transgender people but do not directly equate homicide counts with suicide rates ^{[4] [11]}. Data‑quality gaps and undercounting are repeatedly noted ^[7].

5. Causes, mechanisms and contested interpretations in the literature

Authors and advocacy groups attribute elevated suicidality to minority stress: discrimination, family rejection, violence, lack of access to gender‑affirming care, and social stigma ^{[2] [12]}. Clinic studies point to comorbid mental‑health conditions and social alienation as key correlates ^[11]. Some methodological critiques suggest heterogeneity in measurement (self‑report versus administrative records), potential sampling biases in convenience samples, and underreporting in mortality data because death records lack standardized gender‑identity fields ^{[7] [4]}.

6. What the available sources do not provide

Available sources do not provide a single, definitive national mortality rate for suicide among transgender adults comparable to CDC suicide‑rate estimates for cisgender populations; they also do not offer a harmonized meta‑analytic estimate covering only U.S. studies from 2020–2025 that reconciles sampling frames and definitions ^{[7] [4]}. Comparative, peer‑reviewed U.S. analyses directly measuring suicide death rates by transgender status in national vital‑records with a standardized gender‑identity measure are not found in the provided reporting ^[7].

7. Bottom line for policymakers and clinicians

Multiple U.S. studies and national surveys from 2020–2025 show consistently elevated suicidal ideation and attempt prevalence among transgender adults and particularly among younger and multiply marginalized subgroups; lifetime attempts are commonly reported near 40% in transgender samples versus roughly 4–5% in general adult estimates ^{[1] [2]}. Deaths from interpersonal violence and homicide are also tracked separately by advocacy groups and show concentrated, rising counts in recent years, but official mortality surveillance systems lack gender‑identity granularity, complicating precise comparisons of suicide‑death rates ^{[10] [7]}.