US states by firearm deaths

California had the highest firearm deaths of 51 states in 2005, at 3,453. Hawaii had the lowest, at 28. The median was 439. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Highest3,453California

Lowest28Hawaii

Median43951 states

Map of states, 2005

Under 110
110 to 230
230 to 440
440 to 670
670 to 1,000
1,000 and over

count, 2005. Source: CDC, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2005

count. Source: CDC, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2005 count
1	California	3,453
2	Texas	2,490
3	Florida	1,838
4	Pennsylvania	1,352
5	North Carolina	1,119
6	Ohio	1,116
7	Michigan	1,074
8	Georgia	1,064
9	Illinois	1,019
9	New York	1,019
11	Tennessee	976
12	Arizona	934
13	Virginia	888
14	Louisiana	858
15	Missouri	752
16	Alabama	736
17	Indiana	705
18	Maryland	657
19	South Carolina	589
20	Washington	567
21	Kentucky	548
22	Colorado	535
23	Wisconsin	474
24	Oklahoma	468
25	Mississippi	455
26	Arkansas	439
27	New Jersey	434
28	Oregon	402
29	Nevada	390
30	Minnesota	361
31	New Mexico	267
32	West Virginia	261
33	Kansas	257
34	Utah	227
35	Massachusetts	224
36	Iowa	201
37	Idaho	195
38	Connecticut	187
39	Montana	161
40	District of Columbia	154
41	Nebraska	135
42	Alaska	116
43	Maine	109
44	New Hampshire	88
45	South Dakota	82
46	Delaware	75
47	Wyoming	71
48	North Dakota	61
49	Vermont	44
50	Rhode Island	39
51	Hawaii	28

Other periods

About this ranking

Deaths from firearm injuries of any intent (suicide, homicide, unintentional, legal intervention or undetermined) during the year, by the state of residence of the person who died. NCHS National Vital Statistics System final death data.

Available for US states and DC. Counted from death certificates. The 50 states and DC add up to the national total NCHS publishes (44,447 in 2024).

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, number of deaths. 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, number of deaths (US states by firearm deaths, 2005) [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, number of deaths, US states by firearm deaths, 2005. 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-deaths/us-states?period=2005. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2026. NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. US states by firearm deaths, 2005. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2005.

Harvard

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2026) NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths, US states by firearm deaths, 2005 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2005 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{centers_us_states_by_firearm_2005,
  author = {{Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}},
  title = {{NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths: US states by firearm deaths, 2005}},
  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-deaths/us-states?period=2005. Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. 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, number of deaths: US states by firearm deaths, 2005
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-deaths/us-states?period=2005
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2005.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. 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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Rank US states by firearm deaths using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which state has the highest firearm deaths?

California, with 3,453 in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which state has the lowest firearm deaths?

Hawaii, with 28 in 2005.

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, number of deaths. Retrieved 2026-10-12.