Table 1

Homicide, Suicide, and Firearm Deaths Among Youth Ages 15-19, Selected Years 1970-2005

Rate per 100,000

1970

1980

1990

1995

1996

1997

1998

1998¹

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Homicide

8.1

10.5

16.9

18.1

15.5

13.6

11.7

10.6

9.6

9.4

9.3

9.5

9.3

9.9

Male

12.1

15.9

27.8

29.6

25.8

22.6

19.4

17.2

15.8

15.7

15.3

15.9

15.3

16.8

White

5.2

10.9

12.5

14.7

12.2

11.1

10.2

8.7

8.1

7.9

8.2

8.0

7.9

8.6

White, non-Hispanic

4.2

3.4

3.9

3.6

3.3

3.5

Black

65.2

48.8

115.7

110.5

100.9

85.3

71.0

63.2

57.9

58.2

53.3

58.9

54.8

59.9

Hispanic

29.4

29.3

23.9

25.5

25.1

25.8

27.7

Asian or Pacific Islander

10.6

8.0

6.8

8.6

7.0

7.3

7.7

American Indian

18.7

17.5

14.2

16.7

15.3

14.6

13.1

Female

3.2

4.9

5.4

5.9

4.6

4.1

3.6

3.1

2.7

2.9

2.6

3.0

2.5

White

2.1

3.9

3.6

3.9

2.9

2.4

2.1

2.0

1.9

1.8

2.1

1.8

White, non-Hispanic

2.0

1.9

1.6

1.4

1.8

1.5

Black

10.6

11.0

15.6

16.4

12.9

10.6

9.8

10.2

8.6

6.4

8.0

6.7

7.8

6.3

Hispanic

4.3

3.1

2.6

3.1

2.9

Asian or Pacific Islander

1.9*

2.1*

1.1*

1.3*

American Indian

4.9*

5.5*

4.8*

6.1*

Suicide

5.9

8.5

11.1

10.5

9.7

9.5

8.9

8.2

7.9

7.4

7.3

8.2

7.7

Male

8.8

13.8

18.1

17.4

15.6

15.2

14.6

14.5

13.3

13.2

12.9

12.2

11.6

12.6

12.1

White

9.4

15.0

19.3

18.4

16.3

16.0

15.3

13.9

14.0

13.4

12.7

13.6

13.2

White, non-Hispanic

14.5

14.6

15.4

14.2

13.3

14.2

14.0

Black

4.7

5.6

11.5

13.8

11.5

11.4

10.7

10.0

9.7

7.3

6.9

6.6

7.4

7.2

Hispanic

10.1

9.7

7.8

9.1

9.2

9.9

9.5

Asian or Pacific Islander

6.5

8.7

7.1

5.7

6.7

8.5

4.8

American Indian

36.5

28.4

27.7

22.7

24.7

32.4

24.1

Female

2.9

3.0

3.7

3.1

3.5

3.4

2.9

2.8

2.7

2.4

2.7

3.5

3.0

White

2.9

3.3

4.0

3.3

3.8

3.5

3.0

2.9

2.6

2.9

3.7

3.1

White, non-Hispanic

2.9

3.0

2.7

3.0

3.9

3.3

Black

2.9

1.6

1.9

2.3

1.8

2.7

1.8

1.6

1.5

1.3

0.9*

1.9

1.4

Hispanic

2.2

2.6

2.5

2.0

2.4

2.7

2.4

Asian or Pacific Islander

2.1*

2.5*

3.1*

American Indian

5.6*

9.0*

13.7*

14.9

Firearm Related Death

11.4

14.7

23.3

24.5

21.2

18.8

16.3

14.7

13.1

12.4²

12.1

12.0

12.5

Male

19.2

24.5

40.1

42.4

36.3

32.3

28.0

27.9

25.2

22.7

21.8²

21.1

21.2

20.7

22.0

White

15.8

14.9

14.4

14.6

White, non-Hispanic

12.1

11.2

11.1

10.8

10.5

Black

62.2

56.1

59.4

55.1

61.4

Hispanic

31.8

28.4

27.0

28.0

29.4

Female

3.5

4.6

5.7

5.1

4.5

3.8

3.5

2.9

2.6²

2.7

2.4

2.9

2.4

White

2.4

2.1

2.0

2.4

1.9

White, non-Hispanic

2.2

1.9

1.7

2.3

1.9

Black

5.8

6.0

4.2

5.9

5.0

Hispanic

2.9

2.6

2.8

2.7

2.1

¹Methods for computing homicide rates were changed in 1999; these 1998 rates have been modified so they are comparable to the 1999 and 2000 rates

²2001 data for firearm related deaths are based on 2000 Census-based population denominators. For this reason, these estimates are not strictly comparable to earlier years of data.

Note: *These rates should be used with caution because they are based on 20 or fewer deaths and may be unstable.