Photo Credit: Public Domain
Published July 26, 2021
By Hristina Byrnes [24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square] –
More than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2020, a nearly 30% surge from 2019 and the most ever recorded in a single year, according to recently released data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Addiction experts say the increase in overdose deaths was largely driven by the increased presence of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl in the U.S. Other contributors include problems related to the coronavirus pandemic, such as increased isolation and job losses.
Tennessee is the state with the fifth most drug overdose deaths per capita in 2020. There were 45 fatal overdoses per 100,000, or a total of 3,091 drug overdose-related deaths.
Last year, most reported an increase in drug overdose deaths after seeing a decrease in deaths in 2019. In Tennessee, there were 31 fatal drug overdoses in the state per 100,000 residents, or a total of 2,138, in 2019.
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The average number of overdose deaths in Tennessee between 2015 and 2019 was 26 per 100,000 people a year, the 12th most of all U.S. states, or an average of 1,771 overdose-related deaths a year.
To determine the states with the highest drug overdose fatality rates, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed recently released CDC preliminary estimates of drug overdose deaths. The states are ranked based on the number of drug-related deaths per 100,000 residents. These are the states with the most drug overdose deaths per capita in 2020.
These are the states with the most drug overdose deaths in 2020:
| State | Overdose deaths per 100,000 (2020) | Total overdose deaths (2020) | Overdose deaths per 100,000 (2019) | Total overdose deaths (2019) | Average overdose deaths a year per 100,000 (2015-2019) | Total average over deaths a year (2015-2019) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 74 | 1,326 | 48 | 852 | 48 | 868 |
| Kentucky | 47 | 2,104 | 31 | 1,369 | 31 | 1,391 |
| Delaware | 46 | 449 | 43 | 423 | 34 | 329 |
| Maryland | 46 | 2,761 | 39 | 2,360 | 35 | 2,086 |
| Tennessee | 45 | 3,091 | 31 | 2,138 | 26 | 1,771 |
| Ohio | 45 | 5,215 | 37 | 4,279 | 36 | 4,217 |
| Louisiana | 41 | 1,925 | 28 | 1,304 | 23 | 1,090 |
| Pennsylvania | 40 | 5,172 | 35 | 4,444 | 35 | 4,441 |
| Connecticut | 39 | 1,385 | 35 | 1,231 | 29 | 1,031 |
| New Mexico | 38 | 788 | 29 | 609 | 25 | 524 |
| Rhode Island | 37 | 396 | 30 | 317 | 31 | 329 |
| Maine | 36 | 490 | 27 | 362 | 26 | 347 |
| Arizona | 36 | 2,644 | 27 | 1,981 | 22 | 1,585 |
| Florida | 35 | 7,555 | 26 | 5,524 | 23 | 4,850 |
| Indiana | 34 | 2,268 | 25 | 1,704 | 23 | 1,578 |
| South Carolina | 34 | 1,728 | 22 | 1,131 | 19 | 969 |
| Massachusetts | 33 | 2,293 | 32 | 2,215 | 31 | 2,102 |
| New Jersey | 32 | 2,815 | 31 | 2,774 | 26 | 2,329 |
| Missouri | 31 | 1,921 | 26 | 1,603 | 23 | 1,422 |
| Vermont | 30 | 186 | 19 | 118 | 20 | 125 |
| Nevada | 30 | 914 | 23 | 710 | 23 | 716 |
| New Hampshire | 29 | 393 | 29 | 395 | 32 | 438 |
| North Carolina | 29 | 3,011 | 21 | 2,236 | 20 | 2,064 |
| Illinois | 28 | 3,528 | 22 | 2,775 | 20 | 2,513 |
| Michigan | 27 | 2,743 | 24 | 2,358 | 24 | 2,383 |
| Wisconsin | 26 | 1,530 | 21 | 1,200 | 19 | 1,083 |
| Colorado | 26 | 1,512 | 19 | 1,100 | 17 | 1,004 |
| Virginia | 26 | 2,186 | 18 | 1,538 | 16 | 1,357 |
| New York | 26 | 4,979 | 19 | 3,634 | 18 | 3,544 |
| California | 23 | 9,142 | 16 | 6,363 | 13 | 5,280 |
| Washington | 23 | 1,724 | 16 | 1,251 | 15 | 1,162 |
| Alabama | 20 | 989 | 15 | 739 | 15 | 749 |
| Alaska | 20 | 146 | 18 | 133 | 17 | 126 |
| Utah | 19 | 622 | 18 | 575 | 20 | 630 |
| Hawaii | 19 | 274 | 17 | 245 | 15 | 206 |
| Oregon | 19 | 798 | 14 | 610 | 13 | 539 |
| Minnesota | 19 | 1,066 | 14 | 788 | 12 | 682 |
| Oklahoma | 19 | 746 | 16 | 618 | 18 | 723 |
| Wyoming | 17 | 101 | 12 | 72 | 13 | 77 |
| Georgia | 17 | 1,848 | 13 | 1,378 | 13 | 1,389 |
| Mississippi | 17 | 510 | 12 | 365 | 11 | 330 |
| Arkansas | 17 | 515 | 12 | 362 | 13 | 397 |
| North Dakota | 16 | 123 | 12 | 90 | 10 | 76 |
| Kansas | 16 | 468 | 13 | 380 | 12 | 336 |
| Idaho | 16 | 280 | 15 | 264 | 13 | 237 |
| Montana | 15 | 157 | 13 | 139 | 12 | 124 |
| Texas | 14 | 4,153 | 11 | 3,123 | 10 | 2,887 |
| Iowa | 13 | 419 | 11 | 350 | 10 | 316 |
| Nebraska | 11 | 209 | 8 | 146 | 7 | 136 |
| South Dakota | 8 | 74 | 10 | 88 | 8 | 70 |
About the Author:
Hristina Byrnes is the Managing Editor of 24/7 Tempo, part of media company 24/7 Wall St, based in New York. Previously, she was a senior editor at The Active Times, where she wrote for the health, travel, and lifestyle sections.
Her work has been quoted or mentioned in Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Business Insider, CBS News, Fox News, and Daily Mail. She completed a master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2012. Follow Hristina on Twitter @hristinabyrnes.
One Response
My question is how do they know? We kept being told EVERY death last year was covid related, regardless of any co-morbities, or other natural causes. So how accurate can the records be…
Another musing thought about the overdose rate; how are they comparing these overdoses? Solely as an overdose that lead to death?
I am sorry that so many feel the need to do drugs/alcohol to escape their life. Fentynil did nothing to help ease the rates either. Its just an incredibly sad struggle for many people and their families.