US states by firearm deaths

Texas had the highest firearm deaths of 51 states in 2016, at 3,353. Rhode Island had the lowest, at 49. The median was 541. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Highest3,353Texas

Lowest49Rhode Island

Median54151 states

Map of states, 2016

Under 130
130 to 320
320 to 540
540 to 890
890 to 1,200
1,200 and over

count, 2016. Source: CDC, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

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

Full ranking

Rank	States	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	Texas	3,353	+4.7%
2	California	3,184	+2.9%
3	Florida	2,704	+5.7%
4	Georgia	1,571	+8.5%
5	Pennsylvania	1,555	+4.7%
6	Ohio	1,524	+9.1%
7	Illinois	1,490	+22.1%
8	North Carolina	1,409	+9.3%
9	Michigan	1,230	+5.7%
10	Tennessee	1,148	+6.8%
11	Missouri	1,144	+4.6%
12	Arizona	1,094	+12.8%
13	Virginia	1,049	+10.9%
14	Alabama	1,046	+9.2%
15	Indiana	997	+17.8%
16	Louisiana	987	+3.7%
17	New York	900	+6%
18	South Carolina	891	+4.8%
19	Colorado	812	+15.8%
20	Kentucky	772	+11.2%
21	Oklahoma	766	+8.5%
22	Maryland	707	-0.1%
23	Washington	686	-4.5%
24	Wisconsin	664	+8.3%
25	Mississippi	587	-0.3%
26	Arkansas	541	+4%
27	Oregon	513	+5.6%
28	Nevada	498	+11.7%
29	New Jersey	485	+2.1%
30	Minnesota	432	+5.4%
31	Kansas	383	+16.1%
31	New Mexico	383	-1.8%
33	Utah	370	+0.8%
34	West Virginia	332	+19.4%
35	Iowa	288	+16.6%
36	Idaho	242	-2%
36	Massachusetts	242	+13.6%
38	Montana	194	-5.4%
39	Alaska	177	0%
40	Connecticut	172	-9%
41	Nebraska	171	+1.2%
42	New Hampshire	132	+9.1%
43	Maine	123	-14.6%
44	Delaware	111	-0.9%
45	South Dakota	108	+12.5%
46	District of Columbia	107	-10.8%
47	Wyoming	101	-10.6%
48	North Dakota	90	-2.2%
49	Vermont	78	+11.4%
50	Hawaii	66	+20%
51	Rhode Island	49	-3.9%

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, 2016) [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, 2016. 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=2016. 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, 2016. 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=2016.

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, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{centers_us_states_by_firearm_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  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=2016. 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, 2016
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=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2016.
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?

Texas, with 3,353 in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which state has the lowest firearm deaths?

Rhode Island, with 49 in 2016.

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.