Data / Rankings / Firearm deaths / US states

US states by firearm deaths

Texas had the highest firearm deaths of 51 states in 2017, at 3,513. Hawaii had the lowest, at 39. The median was 613. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest3,513Texas
Lowest39Hawaii
Median61351 states

Map of states, 2017

Alabama: 1,124 countAlaska: 180 countArizona: 1,134 countArkansas: 613 countCalifornia: 3,184 countColorado: 779 countConnecticut: 188 countDelaware: 111 countDistrict of Columbia: 100 countFlorida: 2,724 countGeorgia: 1,623 countHawaii: 39 countIdaho: 280 countIllinois: 1,543 countIndiana: 1,016 countIowa: 293 countKansas: 466 countKentucky: 730 countLouisiana: 1,008 countMaine: 172 countMaryland: 742 countMassachusetts: 262 countMichigan: 1,138 countMinnesota: 465 countMississippi: 632 countMissouri: 1,307 countMontana: 244 countNebraska: 160 countNevada: 508 countNew Hampshire: 146 countNew Jersey: 478 countNew Mexico: 394 countNew York: 772 countNorth Carolina: 1,430 countNorth Dakota: 103 countOhio: 1,589 countOklahoma: 681 countOregon: 528 countPennsylvania: 1,636 countRhode Island: 43 countSouth Carolina: 893 countSouth Dakota: 101 countTennessee: 1,246 countTexas: 3,513 countUtah: 410 countVermont: 70 countVirginia: 1,041 countWashington: 849 countWest Virginia: 348 countWisconsin: 624 countWyoming: 113 count
  • Under 150
  • 150 to 330
  • 330 to 610
  • 610 to 860
  • 860 to 1,300
  • 1,300 and over
count, 2017. Source: CDC, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2017

Texas: 3,513 countTexas3,513California: 3,184 countCalifornia3,184Florida: 2,724 countFlorida2,724Pennsylvania: 1,636 countPennsylvania1,636Georgia: 1,623 countGeorgia1,623Ohio: 1,589 countOhio1,589Illinois: 1,543 countIllinois1,543North Carolina: 1,430 countNorth Carolina1,430Missouri: 1,307 countMissouri1,307Tennessee: 1,246 countTennessee1,246Michigan: 1,138 countMichigan1,138Arizona: 1,134 countArizona1,134Alabama: 1,124 countAlabama1,124Virginia: 1,041 countVirginia1,041Indiana: 1,016 countIndiana1,016Louisiana: 1,008 countLouisiana1,008South Carolina: 893 countSouth Carolina893Washington: 849 countWashington849Colorado: 779 countColorado779New York: 772 countNew York772Maryland: 742 countMaryland742Kentucky: 730 countKentucky730Oklahoma: 681 countOklahoma681Mississippi: 632 countMississippi632Wisconsin: 624 countWisconsin624Arkansas: 613 countArkansas613Oregon: 528 countOregon528Nevada: 508 countNevada508New Jersey: 478 countNew Jersey478Kansas: 466 countKansas466Minnesota: 465 countMinnesota465Utah: 410 countUtah410New Mexico: 394 countNew Mexico394West Virginia: 348 countWest Virginia348Iowa: 293 countIowa293Idaho: 280 countIdaho280Massachusetts: 262 countMassachusetts262Montana: 244 countMontana244Connecticut: 188 countConnecticut188Alaska: 180 countAlaska180Maine: 172 countMaine172Nebraska: 160 countNebraska160New Hampshire: 146 countNew Hampshire146Wyoming: 113 countWyoming113Delaware: 111 countDelaware111North Dakota: 103 countNorth Dakota103South Dakota: 101 countSouth Dakota101District of Columbia: 100 countDistrict of Columbia100Vermont: 70 countVermont70Rhode Island: 43 countRhode Island43Hawaii: 39 countHawaii39Texas: 3,513 countTexas3,513California: 3,184 countCalifornia3,184Florida: 2,724 countFlorida2,724Pennsylvania: 1,636 countPennsylvania1,636Georgia: 1,623 countGeorgia1,623Ohio: 1,589 countOhio1,589Illinois: 1,543 countIllinois1,543North Carolina: 1,430 countNorth Carolina1,430Missouri: 1,307 countMissouri1,307Tennessee: 1,246 countTennessee1,246Michigan: 1,138 countMichigan1,138Arizona: 1,134 countArizona1,134Alabama: 1,124 countAlabama1,124Virginia: 1,041 countVirginia1,041Indiana: 1,016 countIndiana1,016Louisiana: 1,008 countLouisiana1,008South Carolina: 893 countSouth Carolina893Washington: 849 countWashington849Colorado: 779 countColorado779New York: 772 countNew York772Maryland: 742 countMaryland742Kentucky: 730 countKentucky730Oklahoma: 681 countOklahoma681Mississippi: 632 countMississippi632Wisconsin: 624 countWisconsin624Arkansas: 613 countArkansas613Oregon: 528 countOregon528Nevada: 508 countNevada508New Jersey: 478 countNew Jersey478Kansas: 466 countKansas466Minnesota: 465 countMinnesota465Utah: 410 countUtah410New Mexico: 394 countNew Mexico394West Virginia: 348 countWest Virginia348Iowa: 293 countIowa293Idaho: 280 countIdaho280Massachusetts: 262 countMassachusetts262Montana: 244 countMontana244Connecticut: 188 countConnecticut188Alaska: 180 countAlaska180Maine: 172 countMaine172Nebraska: 160 countNebraska160New Hampshire: 146 countNew Hampshire146Wyoming: 113 countWyoming113Delaware: 111 countDelaware111North Dakota: 103 countNorth Dakota103South Dakota: 101 countSouth Dakota101District of Columbia: 100 countDistrict of Columbia100Vermont: 70 countVermont70Rhode Island: 43 countRhode Island43Hawaii: 39 countHawaii39
count. Source: CDC, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2017
count		Change on 2016
1Texas3,513+4.8%
2California3,1840%
3Florida2,724+0.7%
4Pennsylvania1,636+5.2%
5Georgia1,623+3.3%
6Ohio1,589+4.3%
7Illinois1,543+3.6%
8North Carolina1,430+1.5%
9Missouri1,307+14.2%
10Tennessee1,246+8.5%
11Michigan1,138-7.5%
12Arizona1,134+3.7%
13Alabama1,124+7.5%
14Virginia1,041-0.8%
15Indiana1,016+1.9%
16Louisiana1,008+2.1%
17South Carolina893+0.2%
18Washington849+23.8%
19Colorado779-4.1%
20New York772-14.2%
21Maryland742+5%
22Kentucky730-5.4%
23Oklahoma681-11.1%
24Mississippi632+7.7%
25Wisconsin624-6%
26Arkansas613+13.3%
27Oregon528+2.9%
28Nevada508+2%
29New Jersey478-1.4%
30Kansas466+21.7%
31Minnesota465+7.6%
32Utah410+10.8%
33New Mexico394+2.9%
34West Virginia348+4.8%
35Iowa293+1.7%
36Idaho280+15.7%
37Massachusetts262+8.3%
38Montana244+25.8%
39Connecticut188+9.3%
40Alaska180+1.7%
41Maine172+39.8%
42Nebraska160-6.4%
43New Hampshire146+10.6%
44Wyoming113+11.9%
45Delaware1110%
46North Dakota103+14.4%
47South Dakota101-6.5%
48District of Columbia100-6.5%
49Vermont70-10.3%
50Rhode Island43-12.2%
51Hawaii39-40.9%

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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{centers_us_states_by_firearm_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2017.
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  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank US states by firearm deaths using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"firearm_deaths","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=firearm_deaths&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which state has the highest firearm deaths?

Texas, with 3,513 in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which state has the lowest firearm deaths?

Hawaii, with 39 in 2017.

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.

US states: more rankings