Nearly 45,000 people in the U.S. died by gun violence in 2024—one person every 12 minutes, on average—and an all-time high of 27,593 died by firearm suicide, according to the latest annual firearm mortality report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
The Firearm Mortality Epidemic: Examining the U.S. Data from 2024 analyzes 2024 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It finds that guns were involved in the deaths of 44,447 people in the U.S. in 2024—down 5% from 2023. The overall decrease in gun fatalities in 2024 was largely due to a 15.8% drop in the homicide rate, with 15,364 homicides in 2024.
The vast majority of gun deaths—about 86% total—were among males. The report also highlights the increasing rate of gun deaths among females over the past decade, especially among those who are non-white. The report finds the gun homicide rate for Black females—measured as the number of cases per 100,000 population—rose by 63% from 2015 to 2024.
“As this report highlights, deadly gun violence is happening at a large rate affecting all populations,” said study lead author Rose Kim, MPA, assistant policy advisor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
Gun deaths per year in the U.S. peaked at 48,830 in 2021, amid the social disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, and have been decreasing slowly since then. The 2024 figure of 44,447 gun deaths represents a roughly 9% decline from that peak. However, gun deaths remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Overall, gun violence remains the leading cause of death for young people ages 1–17 in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive year, with 2,214 gun deaths total, according to the report. For some specific youth age groups, firearms were among the leading causes, but not always the top cause: There were 119 deaths among ages 1–4, 98 among ages 5–9, 450 among ages 10–14, and 1,547 among ages 15–17.
Certain demographics have experienced much higher increases in gun violence over the past decade. For Asian or Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino females, gun homicide rates increased from 2015 to 2024—39% and 31%, respectively, compared to with a 2% increase among white females. Gun suicide rates also increased over that period, by 169% among Black females, 57% among Hispanic/Latino females, and 51% among Asian or Pacific Islander females—compared with just 4% for white females.
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