Data / Rankings / Firearm death rate / US states

US states by firearm death rate

Alaska had the highest firearm death rate of 51 states in 2014, at 19.2 per 100,000 people. Hawaii had the lowest, at 2.6 per 100,000 people. The median was 11.5 per 100,000 people. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Highest19.2Alaska
Lowest2.6Hawaii
Median11.551 states

All states, 2014

Alaska: 19.2 per 100,000 peopleAlaska19.2Louisiana: 19 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana19Mississippi: 18.3 per 100,000 peopleMississippi18.3Alabama: 16.9 per 100,000 peopleAlabama16.9Arkansas: 16.6 per 100,000 peopleArkansas16.6Wyoming: 16.2 per 100,000 peopleWyoming16.2Montana: 16.1 per 100,000 peopleMontana16.1New Mexico: 16 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico16Oklahoma: 15.7 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma15.7South Carolina: 15.5 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina15.5Missouri: 15.3 per 100,000 peopleMissouri15.3Tennessee: 15.1 per 100,000 peopleTennessee15.1Nevada: 14.8 per 100,000 peopleNevada14.8West Virginia: 14.6 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia14.6Kentucky: 13.9 per 100,000 peopleKentucky13.9Georgia: 13.7 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia13.7Arizona: 13.5 per 100,000 peopleArizona13.5Idaho: 13.2 per 100,000 peopleIdaho13.2Indiana: 12.4 per 100,000 peopleIndiana12.4North Dakota: 12.3 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota12.3Utah: 12.3 per 100,000 peopleUtah12.3Colorado: 12.2 per 100,000 peopleColorado12.2North Carolina: 11.8 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina11.8District of Columbia: 11.7 per 100,000 peopleDistrict of Columbia11.7Oregon: 11.7 per 100,000 peopleOregon11.7Florida: 11.5 per 100,000 peopleFlorida11.5Kansas: 11.3 per 100,000 peopleKansas11.3Delaware: 11.1 per 100,000 peopleDelaware11.1Michigan: 11.1 per 100,000 peopleMichigan11.1Texas: 10.7 per 100,000 peopleTexas10.7Pennsylvania: 10.5 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania10.5Ohio: 10.3 per 100,000 peopleOhio10.3South Dakota: 10.3 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota10.3Vermont: 10.3 per 100,000 peopleVermont10.3Virginia: 10.3 per 100,000 peopleVirginia10.3Washington: 9.7 per 100,000 peopleWashington9.7Nebraska: 9.5 per 100,000 peopleNebraska9.5Maine: 9.4 per 100,000 peopleMaine9.4Illinois: 9 per 100,000 peopleIllinois9Maryland: 9 per 100,000 peopleMaryland9New Hampshire: 8.7 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire8.7Wisconsin: 8.2 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin8.2Iowa: 7.5 per 100,000 peopleIowa7.5California: 7.4 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia7.4Minnesota: 6.6 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota6.6New Jersey: 5.3 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey5.3Connecticut: 5 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut5New York: 4.2 per 100,000 peopleNew York4.2Massachusetts: 3.2 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts3.2Rhode Island: 3 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island3Hawaii: 2.6 per 100,000 peopleHawaii2.6
per 100,000 people. Source: CDC, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2014
per 100,000 people
1Alaska19.2
2Louisiana19
3Mississippi18.3
4Alabama16.9
5Arkansas16.6
6Wyoming16.2
7Montana16.1
8New Mexico16
9Oklahoma15.7
10South Carolina15.5
11Missouri15.3
12Tennessee15.1
13Nevada14.8
14West Virginia14.6
15Kentucky13.9
16Georgia13.7
17Arizona13.5
18Idaho13.2
19Indiana12.4
20North Dakota12.3
20Utah12.3
22Colorado12.2
23North Carolina11.8
24District of Columbia11.7
24Oregon11.7
26Florida11.5
27Kansas11.3
28Delaware11.1
28Michigan11.1
30Texas10.7
31Pennsylvania10.5
32Ohio10.3
32South Dakota10.3
32Vermont10.3
32Virginia10.3
36Washington9.7
37Nebraska9.5
38Maine9.4
39Illinois9
39Maryland9
41New Hampshire8.7
42Wisconsin8.2
43Iowa7.5
44California7.4
45Minnesota6.6
46New Jersey5.3
47Connecticut5
48New York4.2
49Massachusetts3.2
50Rhode Island3
51Hawaii2.6

Other periods

About this ranking

Deaths from firearm injuries of any intent (suicide, homicide, unintentional, legal intervention or undetermined) per 100,000 residents, age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population. Deaths are counted by the state of residence. NCHS National Vital Statistics System final death data.

Available for US states and DC. Age adjustment allows states with older or younger populations to be compared; the rate is not the number of deaths divided by the population.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026). NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate (US states by firearm death rate, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html

MLA 9

NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate, US states by firearm death rate, 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 May 2026, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-death-rate/us-states?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2026. NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate. US states by firearm death rate, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-death-rate/us-states?period=2014.

Harvard

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2026) NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate, US states by firearm death rate, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-death-rate/us-states?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{centers_us_states_by_firearm_2014,
  author = {{Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}},
  title = {{NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate: US states by firearm death rate, 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-death-rate/us-states?period=2014. Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
TI  - NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate: US states by firearm death rate, 2014
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/18
PB  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-death-rate/us-states?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-death-rate/us-states?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest firearm death rate?

Alaska, with 19.2 per 100,000 people in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which state has the lowest firearm death rate?

Hawaii, with 2.6 per 100,000 people in 2014.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, age-adjusted death rate. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings