New Hampshire recorded a 12 percent increase in suicide deaths between 2023 and 2024, a sharp rise that stands in stark contrast to a three percent national decline over the same period, according to a new report from the non-profit research organisation Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).
New Hampshire’s Rising Toll
The state’s age-adjusted suicide rate stood at 16.4 per 100,000 people in 2024, data from USAFacts shows, representing a 65.7 percent increase over two decades and a figure 18.4 percent higher than the national rate. In 2022, the rate was 16.6 per 100,000, a 61 percent jump from 20 years earlier. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for individuals aged 10 to 44 in New Hampshire, and males account for more than 80 percent of suicide deaths among youth and young adults aged 10 to 24. The 50–54 age group carries the highest suicide rate in the state at 27.7 per 100,000, 44 percent above the national average for that demographic. In 2023, 24 percent of New Hampshire adults reported having a mental illness, slightly above the national average.
The report does not draw firm conclusions about why the state saw such a significant increase, though it notes that rural areas tend to experience higher suicide rates. New Hampshire was not alone: Iowa recorded a 10 percent rise, while Connecticut and South Carolina each saw a nine percent increase. In Iowa, the age-adjusted suicide rate reached 17.1 per 100,000 in 2024, a 48.7 percent rise over 20 years and 28.91 percent above the national rate. South Carolina’s rate was 16.0 per 100,000, up 41.6 percent over two decades and 13.7 percent above the national figure. Connecticut’s rate stood at 10.0 per 100,000, a 22 percent increase over 20 years but still 23.7 percent lower than the national rate; earlier data showed a decline from 10.6 in 2022 to 9.1 in 2023.
National Picture: Mixed Progress
Nationally, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) reported 48,824 suicide-related deaths in 2024, a one percent decrease from 2023. Despite the recent drop, the overall suicide rate remains 32 percent higher than in 2000. Firearms were the most common method, involved in 56.5 percent of all suicide deaths in 2024 — a proportion that has been rising. The firearm suicide rate reached an all-time high that year, increasing by nearly 13 percent from 2020 to 2024, and suicides accounted for 62 percent of all gun deaths in the United States. Suffocation (including hanging) accounted for 23.5 percent of suicides, and poisoning (including drug overdose) for 9.0 percent. The TFAH report noted that “suicide by firearm and suffocation/hanging have both increased substantially since 2004.”
Demographic disparities remain stark. Males die by suicide at four times the rate of females. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth and young adults aged 15 to 34, and white individuals accounted for 85 percent of suicide deaths in 2024. While rates generally declined across most age groups from 2023 to 2024, the highest rates persist among older adults aged 85 and above. American Indian and Alaska Native people and males have the highest suicide death rates. Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in suicide rates among people of colour, with the largest rise seen among Black individuals.
Regionally, the Midwest recorded the most suicides and the Northeast the fewest, but every region has seen increases since 2004: the Northeast rose 24 percent, the Midwest 36 percent, the South 23 percent and the West 14 percent, according to the TFAH report.
Recommendations for Prevention
The TFAH report provides a series of recommendations to counteract rising suicide rates, placing particular emphasis on federal investment, limiting access to lethal means, and restoring resources that were cut under the previous Trump administration. The non-profit called for “further federal investment in mental health resources, efforts to limit access to firearms and other lethal methods of suicide and maintaining resources cut under the Trump administration.”
One of the most prominent examples of those cuts involved the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s dedicated service for LGBTQ+ youth. The Trump administration terminated federal funding for that specialised service in July 2025, eliminating the “Press 3” option that connected callers to counsellors trained in supporting LGBTQ+ youth. Advocates note that LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, and in the year before its termination the “Press 3” option was used by over 14 percent of the 5.1 million callers to 988. Bipartisan legislation — the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act of 2025 — has been introduced to codify these services into law. In April 2026, the administration pledged to reinstate the programme, and the fiscal year 2026 funding bill included $33.1 million for the LGBTQ+ line. However, no timeline for reinstatement was provided in that legislation, and as of Wednesday the “Press 3” option was not yet functional, a call made by The Independent confirmed. Some states, such as Illinois, have taken independent steps to preserve these services at the state level.
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which launched nationwide in July 2022, has received over 19 million calls, texts or chats nationally from its launch through October 2025, with improved answer rates and shorter wait times. A study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that 17.5 percent of those who sought help for a mental health crisis contacted the 988 hotline. The fiscal year 2026 funding bill included $535 million for the lifeline overall.
Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, president of TFAH, said: “Sustaining and building on recent progress requires the federal government to invest even more in programs that reduce and prevent harm — not cut them — while also investing in the skilled workforce and modern data systems necessary to deliver and evaluate those programs effectively.” She added: “We are also seeing specific groups of people not experiencing the same progress, especially when it comes to deaths from suicide, meaning we need to do even more to build strong policies and programs that help to improve everyone’s mental health and well-being.”
The report’s broader recommendations, drawn from TFAH’s “Pain in the Nation” series, call for addressing underlying pain, prolonged stress, hopelessness, and financial insecurity, as well as developing more culturally and linguistically responsive services within the behavioural health workforce. Data from Johns Hopkins shows that nearly one in ten adults (8.9 percent) reported a mental health crisis in the past year, with higher prevalence among young adults aged 18 to 29 and Black and Hispanic individuals.
Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said in April: “We are hopeful to see the suicide rate continue to decrease, but the urgency is still tremendous to save lives. One life lost to suicide is too many.”
If you are based in the USA and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In the UK, people having mental health crises can contact the Samaritans at 116 123 or [email protected]; Shout by texting “SHOUT” to 85258; CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) at 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight daily); NHS 111 at 111; or the National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK at 0800 587 0800 (6pm–midnight daily). For other countries, visit www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.