Violence remains a major and uneven driver of death in the United States, with new federal surveillance data showing how sharply race and ethnicity shape who is most at risk. In 2022, the nation recorded more than 74,000 violent deaths across all states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, with suicides and homicides accounting for the vast majority. The patterns behind those deaths expose long-standing racial health disparities that persist across age, gender, and geography.
Homicide fell hardest on Black communities. Non-Hispanic Black males experienced the highest homicide rate of any racial or ethnic group, a rate far exceeding those of White, Hispanic, Asian, or Pacific Islander males. Black females also had the highest homicide rate among women. Firearms were used in more than three-quarters of all homicides, and many of those deaths occurred in homes, reflecting how everyday environments have become sites of lethal risk for Black families.
Suicide told a different but equally troubling story. Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native people had the highest suicide rates overall, with particularly high rates among men. Firearms were also the most common method of suicide, underscoring how access to guns amplifies fatal outcomes across communities. Mental health problems, substance use, recent crises, and intimate partner conflicts frequently preceded these deaths.
Gender intersected with race in revealing ways. Intimate partner violence was a leading factor in homicides of women, while young Black men faced extraordinary risk from firearm-related assaults often tied to conflicts or other crimes. Legal intervention deaths also disproportionately affected Black and American Indian or Alaska Native males.
Public health officials describe these deaths as preventable, pointing to the need for targeted violence prevention, mental health care, and community-based interventions. Without confronting the structural and social conditions driving these patterns, racial gaps in violent death will continue to shape who lives and who dies too soon.
See: “Surveillance for Violent Deaths — National Violent Death Reporting System, 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 2022” (June 12, 2025)
