Table 1 Characteristics of suicide deaths from 2017–2021 across the united States (N = 171,615)

Age

 Mean (SD)

47.6 (18.1)

47.8 (18.1)

48.0 (18.2)

47.5 (18.7)

47.3 (18.7)

47.6 (18.4)*

Race

 White

25,087 (87.6%)

29,391 (87.3%)

27,911 (86.7%)

32,037 (85.9%)

33,739 (84.8%)

148,165 (86.3%)*

 Black/African American

1,829 (6.4%)

2,242 (6.7%)

2,122 (6.6%)

2,748 (7.4%)

3,203 (8.0%)

12,144 (7.1%)

 American Indian/Alaska native

365 (1.3%)

410 (1.2%)

408 (1.3%)

485 (1.3%)

593 (1.5%)

2,261 (1.3%)

 Asian/Pacific Islander

778 (2.7%)

937 (2.8%)

963 (3.0%)

1,085 (2.9%)

1,151 (2.9%)

4,914 (2.9%)

 Other/unspecified

284 (1.0%)

321 (1.0%)

336 (1.0%)

332 (0.9%)

425 (1.1%)

1,698 (1.0%)

 Two or more races

300 (1.0%)

340 (1.0%)

392 (1.2%)

432 (1.2%)

477 (1.2%)

1,941 (1.1%)

 Unknown

1 (0%)

36 (0.1%)

58 (0.2%)

183 (0.5%)

214 (0.5%)

492 (0.3%)

Ethnicity

 Not Hispanic or Latino

26,347 (92.0%)

31,002 (92.1%)

29,708 (92.3%)

34,040 (91.3%)

36,133 (90.8%)

157.230 (91.6%)*

 Hispanic or Latino

2,119 (7.4%)

2,553 (7.6%)

2,429 (7.5%)

3,169 (8.5%)

3,604 (9.1%)

13,874 (8.1%)

 Unknown

176 (0.6%)

116 (0.3%)

52 (0.2%)

89 (0.2%)

62 (0.2%)

495 (0.3%)

Biological sex

 Male

22,310 (77.9%)

26,400 (78.4%)

25,368 (78.8%)

29,867 (80.1%)

31,958 (80.3%)

135,903 (79.2%)*

 Female

6,333 (22.1%)

7,275 (21.6%)

6,822 (21.2%)

7,433 (19.9%)

7,839 (19.7%)

35,702 (20.8%)

 Unknown

1 (0.0%)

2 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

2 (0.0%)

4 (0.0%)

9 (0.0%)

Relationship status at the time of incident

Currently in a relationship

11,724 (41.2%)

13,889 (42.2%)

13,425 (41.9%)

14,456 (41.0%)

15,432 (40.6%)

68,926 (41.4%)*

Not currently in a relationship

2,525 (8.9%)

2,523 (7.7%)

2,687 (8.4%)

3,246 (9.2%)

3,879 (10.2%)

14,860 (8.9%)

Unknown

14,174 (49.9%)

16,472 (50.1%)

15,910 (49.7%)

17,573 (49.8%)

18,738 (49.2%)

82,867 (49.7%)

Suicide characteristics^a

Previous suicide attempt

5,258 (18.4%)

6,076 (18.0%)

5,730 (17.8%)

5,757 (15.4%)

5,933 (14.9%)

28,754 (16.8%)*

History of suicidal thoughts

8,672 (30.3%)

10,400 (30.9%)

10,545 (32.8%)

11,071 (29.7%)

11,459 (28.8%)

52,147 (30.4%)*

Substance use characteristics^a

Alcohol dependence or alcohol problem

4,950 (17.3%)

5,793 (17.2%)

5,746 (17.9%)

5,980 (16.0%)

6,183 (15.5%)

28,652 (16.7%)*

Non-alcohol related substance abuse

4,721 (16.5%)

5,248 (15.6%)

5,175 (16.1%)

5,711 (15.3%)

6,201 (15.6%)

27,056 (15.8%)*

Traumatic events^a

Total number of traumatic events Mean (SD)

1.58 (1.30)

1.53 (1.30)

1.53 (1.28)

1.44 (1.32)

1.39 (1.28)

1.49 (1.30)*

Currently having a mental health problem

13,015 (45.4%)

14,808 (44.0%)

14,080 (43.7%)

15,113 (40.5%)

16,509 (41.5%)

73,525 (42.8%)*

Intimate partner problem

7,086 (24.7%)

8,132 (24.1%)

7,731 (24.0%)

8,458 (22.7%)

8,531 (21.4%)

39,938 (23.3%)*

Family relationship problem

2,294 (8.0%)

2,495 (7.4%)

2,153 (6.7%)

2,258 (6.1%)

2,319 (5.8%)

11,519 (6.7%)*

Other relationship problem

538 (1.9%)

559 (1.7%)

554 (1.7%)

681 (1.8%)

689 (1.7%)

3,021 (1.8%)

History of abuse or neglect as a child

259 (0.9%)

301 (0.9%)

322 (1.0%)

346 (0.9%)

340 (0.9%)

1,568 (0.9%)

Physical fight between two people

242 (0.8%)

291 (0.9%)

274 (0.9%)

324 (0.9%)

323 (0.8%)

1,454 (0.8%)

Disaster exposure

43 (0.2%)

66 (0.2%)

38 (0.1%)

1,485 (4.0%)

979 (2.5%)

2,611 (1.5%)*

Homeless

403 (1.4%)

468 (1.5%)

485 (1.6%)

579 (1.7%)

588 (1.6%)

2,523 (4.1%)*

Housing instability

0 (0.0%)

1 (4.8%)

722 (4.8%)

1,116 (4.1%)

1,093 (3.6%)

2,932 (4.1%)*

Contributing criminal legal problem

2,121 (7.4%)

2,358 (7.0%)

2,267 (7.0%)

2,175 (5.8%)

2,331 (5.9%)

11,252 (6.6%)*

Civil legal problems

836 (2.9%)

1,113 (3.3%)

1,065 (3.3%)

921 (2.5%)

854 (2.1%)

4,789 (2.8%)*

Contributing physical health problem

5,827 (20.3%)

6,531 (19.4%)

6,257 (19.4%)

6,417 (17.2%)

6,898 (17.3%)

31,930 (18.6%)*

Job problem

2,577 (9.0%)

2,864 (8.5%)

2,655 (8.2%)

2,887 (7.7%)

2,725 (6.8%)

13,708 (8.0%)*

Financial problem

2,322 (8.1%)

2,698 (8.0%)

2,377 (7.4%)

2,111 (5.7%)

1,854 (4.7%)

11,362 (6.6%)*

School problem

171 (0.6%)

200 (0.6%)

181 (0.6%)

133 (0.4%)

167 (0.4%)

852 (0.5%)*

Eviction or loss of housing

1,021 (3.6%)

1,123 (3.3%)

1,018 (3.2%)

873 (2.3%)

839 (2.1%)

4,874 (2.8%)*

Suicide of friend or family contributed to death

623 (2.2%)

774 (2.3%)

694 (2.2%)

688 (1.8%)

705 (1.8%)

3,484 (2.0%)*

Other death of friend or family

1,785 (6.2%)

2,038 (6.1%)

1,775 (5.5%)

1,856 (5.0%)

2,199 (5.5%)

9,653 (5.6%)*