Death by Suicide

Men had higher rates of death by suicide than women.

The overall rate of death by suicide among King County residents was 11.6 per 100,000 residents from the years between 2020-2024. In the most recent year, 2024, the death rate for suicide among King County residents was 11.5 per 100,000, totaling 288 deaths.        

  • Gender: Men were nearly 3 times more likely to die by suicide compared to women (17.6 and 5.9 per 100,000, respectively). Men are more likely to use deadlier methods when they attempt suicide.  Unfortunately, death data only document binary gender and we are not able to report on death rates among transgender and nonbinary residents, who experience significant disparities in suicide-related behaviors.  

  • Age: Youth under 18 years old had the lowest rate of death by suicide at 2.2 per 100,000. Among younger adults, the rate of death by suicide among ages 18-24 was higher than ages 25-44 (16.3, 12.8 per 100,0000, respectively). Adults older than 75 had the highest rate of death by suicide at 18.5 per 100,000.

  • Race: Asian (7.1 per 100,000), Black (9.7 per 100,000), and Latinx/Hispanic (8.8 per 100,000) residents had lower rates of death by suicide than white residents (13.1 per 100,000).    

  • Income: Very high poverty areas in King County had a higher rate of death by suicide (14.7 per 100,000) compared to neighborhoods with low poverty (9.8 per 100,000).   

  • City/Neighborhood: Seattle - Downtown, Belltown, and First Hill (28.3 per 100,000) had the highest rates of death by suicide in King County. Duvall, Carnation, Skykomish, and Northeast King County; Auburn – South; and Seattle – Fremont and Wallingford also had rates above 18 per 100,000. Bellevue - Northeast had the lowest rate of death by suicide (6.0 per 100,000).   

If you or someone you know is considering harming themselves, contact the 24/7 free and confidential National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).  

  • Suicide Data in King County: These 3 new data dashboards from King County’s NOHARM project bring together local and state datasets to better understand risk and protective factors for suicide in King County: 

 

NOTES & SOURCES  

Source: Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics. 

To learn more about the Death Certificate data and view the data biography, click here.

 
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