US states by firearm deaths

Texas had the highest firearm deaths of 51 states in 2018, at 3,522. Rhode Island had the lowest, at 37. The median was 573. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Highest3,522Texas

Lowest37Rhode Island

Median57351 states

Map of states, 2018

Under 160
160 to 330
330 to 570
570 to 890
890 to 1,300
1,300 and over

count, 2018. Source: CDC, NCHS Stats of the States: firearm mortality by state, number of deaths. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2018

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

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	Texas	3,522	+0.3%
2	California	3,040	-4.5%
3	Florida	2,902	+6.5%
4	Georgia	1,680	+3.5%
5	Pennsylvania	1,654	+1.1%
6	Ohio	1,555	-2.1%
7	North Carolina	1,416	-1%
8	Illinois	1,382	-10.4%
9	Missouri	1,311	+0.3%
10	Michigan	1,310	+15.1%
11	Tennessee	1,228	-1.4%
12	Arizona	1,147	+1.1%
13	Alabama	1,064	-5.3%
14	Virginia	1,035	-0.6%
15	Louisiana	991	-1.7%
16	Indiana	977	-3.8%
17	South Carolina	895	+0.2%
18	Colorado	889	+14.1%
19	New York	821	+6.3%
20	Washington	809	-4.7%
21	Kentucky	762	+4.4%
22	Maryland	707	-4.7%
23	Mississippi	681	+7.8%
24	Oklahoma	665	-2.3%
25	Wisconsin	598	-4.2%
26	Arkansas	573	-6.5%
27	Nevada	550	+8.3%
28	Oregon	519	-1.7%
29	New Mexico	438	+11.2%
30	Minnesota	437	-6%
31	Kansas	424	-9%
32	New Jersey	420	-12.1%
33	Utah	397	-3.2%
34	West Virginia	343	-1.4%
35	Idaho	294	+5%
36	Iowa	282	-3.8%
37	Massachusetts	258	-1.5%
38	Connecticut	186	-1.1%
38	Montana	186	-23.8%
40	Nebraska	183	+14.4%
41	Maine	159	-7.6%
42	Alaska	155	-13.9%
42	New Hampshire	155	+6.2%
44	District of Columbia	125	+25%
45	Wyoming	124	+9.7%
46	South Dakota	117	+15.8%
47	Delaware	107	-3.6%
48	North Dakota	89	-13.6%
49	Vermont	82	+17.1%
50	Hawaii	59	+51.3%
51	Rhode Island	37	-14%

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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{centers_us_states_by_firearm_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/firearm-deaths/us-states?period=2018.
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 3,522 in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which state has the lowest firearm deaths?

Rhode Island, with 37 in 2018.

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.