United States drug overdose death rates and totals over time

Fentanyl. 2 mg. A lethal dose in most people.^[1] Diameter of a US penny is 19.05 mm, or 0.75 inches.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has data on drug overdose death rates and totals. Over 1,015,000 US residents died from drug overdoses from 1968 to 2019. Nearly 841,000 from 1999 through 2019. 22 people out of every 100,000 died from drug overdoses in 2019 in the US. Opioids were involved in 70.6% (nearly 50,000) of the nearly 71,000 deaths in 2019.^[2]^[3]

Around 104,300 people died in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2021, at a rate of 286 deaths per day.^[4]

1968–2019 overdose death rates and totals[]

U.S. yearly overdose deaths from all drugs.^[5]

1968–2019 US drug overdose deaths. 1,015,060 total.^[3]
Year	Deaths	Population (July 1 residents)	Crude death rate per 100,000	Age adjusted death rate per 100,000
1968	5,033	199,533,564	2.5	2.8
1969	6,006	201,568,206	3.0	3.3
1970	7,101	203,458,035	3.5	3.8
1971	6,771	206,782,970	3.3	3.5
1972	6,622	209,237,411	3.2	3.4
1973	6,413	211,361,965	3.0	3.2
1974	6,449	213,436,958	3.0	3.2
1975	7,145	215,457,198	3.3	3.4
1976	6,765	217,615,788	3.1	3.2
1977	6,130	219,808,632	2.8	2.9
1978	5,506	222,102,279	2.5	2.6
1979	2,544	224,635,398	1.1	1.1
1980	2,492	226,624,371	1.1	1.1
1981	2,668	229,487,512	1.2	1.2
1982	2,862	231,701,425	1.2	1.2
1983	2,866	233,781,743	1.2	1.2
1984	3,266	235,922,142	1.4	1.3
1985	3,612	238,005,715	1.5	1.5
1986	4,187	240,189,882	1.7	1.7
1987	3,907	242,395,034	1.6	1.6
1988	4,865	244,651,961	2.0	2.0
1989	5,035	247,001,762	2.0	2.0
1990	4,506	248,922,111	1.8	1.8
1991	5,215	253,088,068	2.1	2.0
1992	5,951	256,606,463	2.3	2.3
1993	7,382	260,024,637	2.8	2.8
1994	7,828	263,241,475	3.0	3.0
1995	8,000	266,386,596	3.0	3.0
1996	8,431	269,540,779	3.1	3.1
1997	9,099	272,776,678	3.3	3.3
1998	9,838	276,032,848	3.6	3.6
1999	16,849	279,040,168	6.0	6.1
2000	17,415	281,421,906	6.2	6.2
2001	19,394	284,968,955	6.8	6.8
2002	23,518	287,625,193	8.2	8.2
2003	25,785	290,107,933	8.9	8.9
2004	27,424	292,805,298	9.4	9.4
2005	29,813	295,516,599	10.1	10.1
2006	34,425	298,379,912	11.5	11.5
2007	36,010	301,231,207	12.0	11.9
2008	36,450	304,093,966	12.0	11.9
2009	37,004	306,771,529	12.1	11.9
2010	38,329	308,745,538	12.4	12.3
2011	41,340	311,591,917	13.3	13.2
2012	41,502	313,914,040	13.2	13.1
2013	43,982	316,128,839	13.9	13.8
2014	47,055	318,857,056	14.8	14.7
2015	52,404	321,418,820	16.3	16.3
2016	63,632	323,127,513	19.7	19.8
2017	70,237	325,719,178	21.6	21.7
2018	67,367	327,167,434	20.6	20.7
2019	70,630	328,239,523	21.5	21.6
Total	1,015,060

Overdose death rates by state. Map and timeline[]

Drug overdose deaths in the US per 100,000 people by state.^[2]

Drug Overdose Mortality by State. Rates per 100,000 population.^[6]
State	1999	2005	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Alabama	3.9	6.3	15.2	15.7	16.2	18	16.6	16.3
Alaska	7.5	11.4	16.8	16	16.8	20.2	14.6	17.8
Arizona	10.6	14.1	12.6	19	20.3	22.2	23.8	26.8
Arkansas	4.4	10.1	18.2	13.8	14	15.5	15.7	13.5
California	8.1	9	11.1	11.3	11.2	11.7	12.8	15
Colorado	8	12.7	16.3	15.4	16.6	17.6	16.8	18
Connecticut	9	8.5	17.6	22.1	27.4	30.9	30.7	34.7
Delaware	6.4	7.5	20.9	22	30.8	37	43.8	48
Florida	6.4	13.5	13.2	16.2	23.7	25.1	22.8	25.5
Georgia	3.5	8.2	11.9	12.7	13.3	14.7	13.2	13.1
Hawaii	6.5	9.4	10.9	11.3	12.8	13.8	14.3	15.9
Idaho	5.3	8.1	13.7	14.2	15.2	14.4	14.6	15.1
Illinois	6.7	8.4	13.1	14.1	18.9	21.6	21.3	21.9
Indiana	3.2	9.8	18.2	19.5	24	29.4	25.6	26.6
Iowa	1.9	4.8	8.8	10.3	10.6	11.5	9.6	11.5
Kansas	3.4	9.1	11.7	11.8	11.1	11.8	12.4	14.3
Kentucky	4.9	15.3	24.7	29.9	33.5	37.2	30.9	32.5
Louisiana	4.3	14.7	16.9	19	21.8	24.5	25.4	28.3
Maine	5.3	12.4	16.8	21.2	28.7	34.4	27.9	29.9
Maryland	11.4	11.4	17.4	20.9	33.2	36.3	37.2	38.2
Massachusetts	7.5	12	19	25.7	33	31.8	32.8	32.1
Michigan	4.6	9.8	18	20.4	24.4	27.8	26.6	24.4
Minnesota	2.8	5.4	9.6	10.6	12.5	13.3	11.5	14.2
Mississippi	3.2	8.8	11.6	12.3	12.1	12.2	10.8	13.6
Missouri	5	10.7	18.2	17.9	23.6	23.4	27.5	26.9
Montana	4.6	10.1	12.4	13.8	11.7	11.7	12.2	14.1
Nebraska	2.3	5	7.2	6.9	6.4	8.1	7.4	8.7
Nevada	11.5	18.7	18.4	20.4	21.7	21.6	21.2	20.1
New Hampshire	4.3	10.7	26.2	34.3	39	37	35.8	32
New Jersey	6.5	9.4	14	16.3	23.2	30	33.1	31.7
New Mexico	15	20.1	27.3	25.3	25.2	24.8	26.7	30.2
New York	5	4.8	11.3	13.6	18	19.4	18.4	18.2
North Carolina	4.6	11.4	13.8	15.8	19.7	24.1	22.4	22.3
North Dakota	0	0	6.3	8.6	10.6	9.2	10.2	11.4
Ohio	4.2	10.9	24.6	29.9	39.1	46.3	35.9	38.3
Oklahoma	5.4	13.8	20.3	19	21.5	20.1	18.4	16.7
Oregon	6.1	10.4	12.8	12	11.9	12.4	12.6	14
Pennsylvania	8.1	13.2	21.9	26.3	37.9	44.3	36.1	35.6
Rhode Island	5.5	14.3	23.4	28.2	30.8	31	30.1	29.5
South Carolina	3.7	9.9	14.4	15.7	18.1	20.5	22.6	22.7
South Dakota	0	5.5	7.8	8.4	8.4	8.5	6.9	10.5
Tennessee	6.1	14.5	19.5	22.2	24.5	26.6	27.5	31.2
Texas	5.4	8.5	9.7	9.4	10.1	10.5	10.4	10.8
Utah	10.6	19.3	22.4	23.4	22.4	22.3	21.2	18.9
Vermont	4.7	8.5	13.9	16.7	22.2	23.2	26.6	23.8
Virginia	5	7.5	11.7	12.4	16.7	17.9	17.1	18.3
Washington	9.3	13	13.3	14.7	14.5	15.2	14.8	15.8
West Virginia	4.1	10.5	35.5	41.5	52	57.8	51.5	52.8
Wisconsin	4	9.3	15.1	15.5	19.3	21.2	19.2	21.1
Wyoming	4.1	4.9	19.4	16.4	17.6	12.2	11.1	14.1

Drug overdose deaths by state over time[]

Drug overdose deaths by state over time^[6]
State	1999	2005	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Alabama	169	283	723	736	756	835	775	768
Alaska	46	79	124	122	128	147	110	132
Arizona	511	794	356	1274	1382	1532	1670	1907
Arkansas	113	269	1211	392	401	446	444	388
California	2662	3214	4521	4659	4654	4868	5348	6198
Colorado	349	608	899	869	942	1015	995	1079
Connecticut	310	295	623	800	971	1072	1069	1214
Delaware	50	62	189	198	282	338	401	435
Florida	997	2371	2634	3228	4728	5088	4698	5268
Georgia	283	738	1206	1302	1394	1537	1404	1408
Hawaii	80	126	157	169	191	203	213	242
Idaho	64	109	212	218	243	236	250	265
Illinois	825	1067	1705	1835	2411	2778	2722	2790
Indiana	191	610	1172	1245	1526	1852	1629	1699
Iowa	53	141	264	309	314	341	287	352
Kansas	89	241	332	329	313	333	345	403
Kentucky	197	638	1077	1273	1419	1566	1315	1380
Louisiana	188	661	777	861	996	1108	1140	1267
Maine	67	163	216	269	353	424	345	371
Maryland	629	656	1070	1285	2044	2247	2324	2369
Massachusetts	488	780	1289	1724	2227	2168	2241	2210
Michigan	460	985	1762	1980	2347	2694	2591	2385
Minnesota	136	282	517	581	672	733	636	792
Mississippi	87	248	336	351	352	354	310	394
Missouri	276	608	1067	1066	1371	1367	1610	1583
Montana	41	96	125	138	119	119	125	143
Nebraska	39	86	125	126	120	152	138	161
Nevada	227	457	545	619	665	676	688	647
New Hampshire	54	142	334	422	481	467	452	407
New Jersey	557	823	1253	1454	2056	2685	2900	2805
New Mexico	266	373	547	501	500	493	537	599
New York	959	944	2300	2754	3638	3921	3697	3617
North Carolina	366	1000	1358	1567	1956	2414	2259	2266
North Dakota	12	12	43	61	77	68	70	82
Ohio	467	1243	2744	3310	4329	5111	3980	4251
Oklahoma	178	478	777	725	813	775	716	645
Oregon	210	386	522	505	506	530	547	615
Pennsylvania	990	1613	2732	3264	4627	5388	4415	4377
Rhode Island	58	156	247	310	326	320	317	307
South Carolina	147	427	701	761	879	1008	1125	1127
South Dakota	17	40	63	65	69	73	57	86
Tennessee	344	872	1269	1457	1630	1776	1823	2089
Texas	1087	1910	2601	2588	2831	2989	3005	3136
Utah	205	438	603	646	635	650	624	571
Vermont	29	53	83	99	125	134	153	133
Virginia	366	581	980	1039	1405	1507	1448	1547
Washington	555	850	979	1094	1102	1169	1164	1259
West Virginia	75	184	627	725	884	974	856	870
Wisconsin	212	518	853	878	1074	1177	1079	1201
Wyoming	20	26	109	96	99	69	66	79

Overdose death rates and totals by drug[]

Concerning the data in the charts below (in this section and the following sections) deaths from the various drugs add up to more than the yearly overdose death total because multiple drugs are involved in many of the deaths.^[5]

US yearly overdose deaths, and the drugs involved.^[5]

U.S. yearly overdose deaths involving benzodiazepines.^[5]
U.S. yearly overdose deaths involving cocaine.^[5]

Opioid overdose death rates and totals[]

Of the 70,200 overdose deaths in the US in 2017, opioids were involved in 47,600.^[5] This is an increase from 2016 where over 64,000 died from drug overdose, and opioids were involved in over 42,000.^[7] In 2017, the five states with the highest rates of death due to drug overdose were West Virginia (57.8 per 100,000), Ohio (46.3 per 100,000), Pennsylvania (44.3 per 100,000), Kentucky (37.2 per 100,000), and New Hampshire (37.0 per 100,000).^[2]

U.S. overdose deaths involving all opioids. Deaths per 100,000 population.^[8]

US yearly deaths from all opioid drugs. Included in this number are opioid analgesics, along with heroin and illicit synthetic opioids.^[5]
US yearly deaths involving other synthetic opioids, predominately Fentanyl.^[5]
US yearly deaths involving prescription opioids. Non-methadone synthetics is a category dominated by illegally acquired fentanyl, and has been excluded.^[5]
US yearly overdose deaths involving heroin.^[5]
The top line represents the yearly number of benzodiazepine deaths that involved opioids in the US. The bottom line represents benzodiazepine deaths that did not involve opioids.^[5]
Opioid involvement in cocaine overdose deaths.^[5]
Drug overdose deaths involving antidepressants, by opioid involvement.^[5]

Overdose death rates by race and ethnicity[]

Timeline of US drug overdose death rates by race and ethnicity.^[9] Rate per 100,000 population.

References[]

^ Fentanyl. Image 4 of 17. US DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration).
^ ^a ^b ^c Drug Overdose Deaths. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Click on a map year. The data table is below the map. Number of deaths for each state, and the age-adjusted rates of death for each state. Also, place cursor on map states to get data.
^ ^a ^b
Data is from these saved tables from CDC Wonder at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. The tables have totals, rates, and US populations per year.
- 1968-1978 data: Compressed Mortality File 1968-1978. CDC WONDER Online Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd8.html on Mar 13, 2021 5:04:32 PM.
- 1979-1998 data: Compressed Mortality File 1979-1998. CDC WONDER On-line Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000 and CMF 1989-1998, Series 20, No. 2E, 2003. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd9.html on Mar 13, 2021 5:19:27 PM.
- 1999-2019 data: Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2019. CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2020. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2019, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.html on Mar 13, 2021 5:05:13 PM.
^ Products - Vital Statistics Rapid Release - Provisional Drug Overdose Data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hover cursor over the end of the graph in Figure 1A to get the latest number. Scroll down the page and click on the dropdown data table called "Data Table for Figure 1a. 12 Month-ending Provisional Counts of Drug Overdose Deaths". The number used is the "predicted value" for the 12 month period that is ending at the end of that month. That number changes as more info comes in.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Overdose Death Rates. By National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
^ ^a ^b Drug Overdose Mortality by State. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. To get all the years click the "Download Data (CSV)" link just below the table.
^ National Center for Health Statistics. "Provisional Counts of Drug Overdose Deaths, as of 8/6/2017" (PDF). United States: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Source lists US totals for 2015 and 2016 and statistics by state.
^ Opioid Data Analysis and Resources. Drug Overdose. CDC Injury Center. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Click on "Rising Rates" tab for a graph. See the data table below the graph.
^ NCHS Data Visualization Gallery - Drug Poisoning Mortality. From National Center for Health Statistics. Open the dashboard dropdown menu and pick "U.S. Trends". From the menus on the right pick all races, all ages, and both sexes. Run your cursor over the graph to see the data.