States With the Highest and Lowest Firearm Death Rates

Mississippi's age-adjusted firearm death rate sits at approximately 28 per 100,000 residents, while Hawaii's hovers near 3.4. That gap, nearly eightfold, is not an accident of culture or geography alone. It tracks almost perfectly with state gun law strength ratings.

The Deadliest States for Gun Violence

The states with the highest firearm death rates (age-adjusted, per 100,000 residents, as of late 2025 CDC data, the most recent full-year figures available) cluster almost entirely in the South and rural West:

• Mississippi: ~28.0
• Wyoming: ~25.9
• Louisiana: ~26.4
• Alaska: ~24.7
• Alabama: ~23.8
• Arkansas: ~20.6
• Montana: ~22.1

These numbers include all firearm deaths: homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings. Suicide accounts for the majority of gun deaths nationally, roughly 54 percent, which is why rural states with high gun ownership and limited mental health infrastructure consistently appear on this list alongside high-homicide urban states.

Louisiana and Mississippi lead on homicide-specific rates. Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska are pulled up primarily by firearm suicide rates, which run significantly above the national average in frontier states where geographic isolation limits crisis intervention access.

The Safest States for Firearm Deaths

The states with the lowest firearm death rates share a common thread: stricter permitting laws, waiting periods, and in most cases, lower overall gun ownership rates.

• Hawaii: ~3.4
• Massachusetts: ~3.7
• New Jersey: ~5.1
• New York: ~5.3
• Rhode Island: ~5.8
• California: ~7.0
• Connecticut: ~6.2

New Hampshire and Maine are the notable exceptions to the pattern. Both states have relatively permissive gun laws and high ownership rates, yet post homicide rates among the lowest in the country, at 0.9 and 1.2 per 100,000 respectively. Their overall firearm death rates are pulled up somewhat by suicide, but they still rank far below the national average. Low population density, low poverty rates, and strong social cohesion appear to offset permissive gun policies in these two states specifically.

The national average firearm death rate sits at approximately 13.7 per 100,000, based on the most recent full-year data available as of late 2025. A 2026 CDC update is expected later this year.

Why the Gap Exists: Policy vs. Demographics

Researchers at Everytown and the Giffords Law Center consistently find that states earning "A" grades on gun law strength post combined firearm death rates roughly 60 percent lower than states earning "F" grades. The 2024 combined age-adjusted rate for high-law-grade states was 7.2 per 100,000, compared to 18.5 for low-grade states.

The specific policies most correlated with lower death rates:

• Permit-to-purchase requirements for handguns
• Universal background checks covering private sales
• Extreme risk protection orders (red flag laws), now active in 22 states
• Secure storage laws targeting unintentional deaths and youth suicides

Poverty rate is the strongest demographic predictor. States with poverty rates above 15 percent post firearm death rates nearly double those of states below 10 percent poverty. Mississippi and Louisiana rank in the bottom five nationally on both poverty and firearm safety. Hawaii and Massachusetts rank in the top ten on both economic stability and firearm safety.

What This Means for Where You Live

Firearm death rates are one data point in a broader picture of state safety and quality of life, but they are a meaningful one, especially for families with children and retirees choosing where to spend their later years. If you are weighing a move to a Sun Belt state for tax advantages, it is worth stacking those financial benefits against safety data.

Florida, for instance, posts a firearm death rate of approximately 14.2 per 100,000, close to the national average, while Texas comes in near 14.8. Both states offer significant tax advantages, but neither ranks among the safest for gun violence. You can explore how those trade-offs play out financially using our state comparison calculator.

For retirees specifically, states like Massachusetts and New Jersey combine low firearm death rates with other quality-of-life factors, though their tax environments require careful review. See our breakdown of the best states for retirees to avoid taxes and the true cost of living in high-tax states before drawing conclusions.

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Key Takeaways

• Mississippi's firearm death rate (~28 per 100,000) is more than eight times higher than Hawaii's (~3.4), the widest state-level gap in the country.
• States with the strongest gun laws posted a combined age-adjusted death rate of 7.2 in 2024, versus 18.5 for the weakest-law states, a 157 percent difference.
• Firearm suicide, not homicide, drives the majority of deaths nationally (~54 percent) and dominates the numbers in rural Western states like Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska.

Compare every state side by side on safety, taxes, and cost of living at liveordiehere.com.