Suicide Statistics by Age Group: How Risk Changes Across Life

Suicide risk does not spread evenly across a lifetime. In 2023, 49,316 people in the United States died by suicide, making it the 11th leading cause of death overall (NIMH, 2025). But that single national ranking hides a far more complicated story — one in which the same cause of death sits second on the list for a 15-year-old and eleventh for the population as a whole.

Two very different patterns run underneath the numbers. The rank of suicide as a cause of death is highest among the young, where it is the second-leading cause of death from early adolescence through the mid-thirties. The rate of suicide, meanwhile, climbs steadily with age and reaches its highest point among the oldest adults, driven almost entirely by older men. Layered on top of both is a sharp divide by sex: men die by suicide at roughly four times the rate of women, and the age at which each sex peaks is decades apart.

This article breaks down U.S. suicide rates by age group and sex, explains why suicide ranks so high as a cause of death for young people, and contrasts the female midlife peak with the older-male peak — using data from the CDC and the National Institute of Mental Health.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.

The Big Picture: Suicide Across the Lifespan

In 2023, suicide claimed 49,316 lives — more than twice as many deaths as homicide, which accounted for 22,830 (NIMH, 2025). The age-adjusted rate was 14.0 per 100,000 people, and NIMH reports a closely related figure of 14.1 (CDC, 2024; NIMH, 2025).

The most consistent divide in the data is sex. In 2023, the male age-adjusted rate was 22.8 per 100,000 compared with 5.9 for females — men die by suicide at roughly four times the rate of women, and males account for about 80% of all suicide deaths (NIMH, 2025). Because that gap widens and narrows at different ages, sex and age have to be read together to make sense of the pattern. For a fuller treatment of the sex gap, see our analysis of male suicide statistics and the national suicide deaths overview.

Crude Suicide Rates by Age Group and Sex (2023)

The table below shows crude suicide rates per 100,000 people by age group and sex for 2023. Reading across each row reveals the male-female gap; reading down each column shows how risk shifts with age.

Source: NIMH, 2025. Rates are per 100,000 population.

Two features stand out. The female rate peaks in midlife, at 8.6 per 100,000 in the 45–64 age band, then declines in older age. The male rate peaks last, at 40.7 per 100,000 among those 75 and older — nearly five times the highest female rate, and roughly eight times the female rate within that same 75-and-older group (5.1). The two sexes reach their most dangerous years decades apart, and the male curve keeps climbing exactly where the female curve is falling.

More recent single-year data reinforce the age gradient. As of 2024, crude rates were lowest among children ages 10–14 (2.3 per 100,000) and rose to 9.4 among those 15–19, before climbing far higher in later life — 21.7 per 100,000 at ages 80–84 and 21.4 at 85 and older (CDC, 2024).

Where Suicide Ranks as a Cause of Death, by Age

Rates tell you how common suicide is within an age group. Rankings tell you how it compares with everything else that can kill someone that age — and this is where young people move to the front. In 2023, suicide was (NIMH, 2025):

1. The 2nd leading cause of death for ages 10–14
2. The 2nd leading cause of death for ages 15–24
3. The 2nd leading cause of death for ages 25–34
4. The 4th leading cause for ages 35–44
5. The 5th leading cause for ages 45–54
6. The 8th leading cause for ages 55–64

The apparent paradox — a low crude rate but a very high rank — resolves once you account for competing causes of death. Young people rarely die of heart disease, cancer, or stroke, so even a comparatively modest suicide rate rises to the top of the list. In older age the rate is far higher, but chronic disease dominates the causes of death, pushing suicide down the ranking even as the underlying risk grows. Rate and rank are measuring two different things, and both matter.

The Youth and Adolescent Picture

Among the youngest, absolute rates are low. Children ages 10–14 had a crude rate of 2.3 per 100,000 in 2024, the lowest of any age band (CDC, 2024). But suicide is still the second-leading cause of death for that group, a sobering reflection of how few other fatal risks children face.

Risk rises steeply through adolescence. The rate among 15–19-year-olds was 9.4 per 100,000 in 2024 — roughly four times the 10–14 rate (CDC, 2024). By the 15–24 band, the sex gap has already opened wide: 21.2 per 100,000 for males versus 5.5 for females in 2023 (NIMH, 2025). For a closer look at these years, see our pages on teen mental health and young adults.

The pattern is not unique to the United States. Globally, suicide was the third-leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds in 2021 — second for young women and third for young men (WHO, 2021). Across countries, adolescence and young adulthood are consistently the years in which suicide first emerges as a leading killer.

Midlife: The Female Peak

Female suicide risk follows a different arc than male risk. Rather than climbing continuously with age, it rises through early adulthood, peaks in midlife, and then eases. The female rate reaches its maximum of 8.6 per 100,000 in the 45–64 age band before falling to 6.2 among ages 65–74 and 5.1 at 75 and older (NIMH, 2025).

This midlife concentration means that for women, the highest-risk years arrive alongside the pressures often clustered in the middle decades of adult life. It also marks the one stretch of the lifespan where male and female rates are closest in relative terms — though the male rate in that same 45–64 band, at 29.2 per 100,000, is still more than three times higher. Our adults overview covers this working-age population in more detail.

Older Adults: The Male Peak

The oldest Americans carry the highest suicide rates of any age group, and the burden falls overwhelmingly on men. As of 2024, crude rates reached 21.7 per 100,000 at ages 80–84 and 21.4 at 85 and older (CDC, 2024). Broken out by sex for 2023, the male rate climbs to 40.7 per 100,000 among those 75 and older — the single highest figure in the entire age-and-sex breakdown (NIMH, 2025).

The contrast with women could not be sharper. In the same 75-and-older group, the female rate is 5.1 per 100,000 — meaning older men die by suicide at roughly eight times the rate of older women. Factors frequently cited in later-life suicide include social isolation, bereavement, declining physical health, and higher access to lethal means, all of which weigh most heavily on aging men. Learn more on our older adults and men pages, and see the broader male breakdown for how sex compounds age-related risk.

Reading the Two Curves Together

The clearest way to summarize U.S. suicide statistics by age is to hold two facts side by side. First, suicide ranks highest as a cause of death among the young — second place from age 10 through 34 — because so little else kills people that age. Second, suicide rates rise across the lifespan and peak among the oldest men, whose rate of 40.7 per 100,000 dwarfs every other group. Prevention focused only on adolescents, or only on the elderly, misses half the picture. For the full national context, see our suicide deaths hub, the national mental health overview, and our companion breakdown of U.S. suicide statistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which age group has the highest suicide rate?

The oldest adults have the highest crude suicide rates. As of 2024, rates reached 21.7 per 100,000 at ages 80–84 and 21.4 at 85 and older, driven overwhelmingly by older men, whose rate at 75 and older was 40.7 per 100,000 in 2023 (CDC, 2024; NIMH, 2025).

Why is suicide a leading cause of death for young people if their rate is low?

Because young people rarely die of chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, or stroke. With few competing fatal causes, even a relatively low suicide rate ranks second among all causes of death for ages 10–14, 15–24, and 25–34 (NIMH, 2025).

At what age do women have the highest suicide rate?

Female suicide rates peak in midlife. The highest female rate — 8.6 per 100,000 in 2023 — occurs in the 45–64 age band, after which it declines in older age (NIMH, 2025).

How much higher is the male suicide rate than the female rate?

Overall, the male age-adjusted rate was 22.8 per 100,000 in 2023 versus 5.9 for females — about four times higher — and males account for roughly 80% of all suicide deaths. The gap is widest at 75 and older, where the male rate of 40.7 is about eight times the female rate of 5.1 (NIMH, 2025).

Is suicide the leading cause of death for teenagers?

It is the second-leading cause of death for ages 15–24, not the first. It also ranks second for ages 10–14 and 25–34 in the United States, and globally it was the third-leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds in 2021 (NIMH, 2025; WHO, 2021).

Sources

1. National Institute of Mental Health. Suicide. NIMH; updated 2025. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Suicide Data and Statistics. CDC; 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/data/

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). CDC/NCIPC; 2026. https://wisqars.cdc.gov/

4. World Health Organization. Suicide (fact sheet). WHO; 2025. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide