Where Americans Are Killed By Guns: US Homicide & Suicide Death Rates

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a total of 33,169 people were killed by guns in the US in 2013. However, the rates at which people were killed by guns varied widely between states and regions.

This is clearly demonstrated by the map above. The map originally appeared as part of a Braid’s Gun Violence in America interactive feature.

It clearly shows that gun deaths in America tend to cluster heavily in both the South and West of the country and also in Alaska. With California, Hawaii and the Northeastern and Midwestern states all having relatively lower rates of deaths from guns.

Across the country as a whole, the death rate is 10.5 people killed per 100,000 people per year. To put this in perspective this is:

175X the rate in Japan (0.06 deaths per 100,000 people per year)
40X the rate in the UK (0.26 deaths per 100k per year)
5.6X the rate in Israel (1.87 deaths per 100k per year)
4.7X the rate in Canada (2.22 deaths per 100k per year)
And is only marginally lower than Mexico (11.17 deaths per 100k per year)
So even states and regions with relatively low rates by US standards may have rates that are extremely high by international standards.