over 63,600
The number of drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2016 (the most recent year for which data are available).
52 per 100,000
The death rate from drug overdose in West Virginia, the state with the highest rate in 2016. The other jurisdictions with the highest drug overdose death rates were Ohio (39.1), New Hampshire (39), Washington, D.C. (38.8) and Pennsylvania (37.9). Those with the lowest rates were Iowa (10.6), North Dakota (10.6), Texas (10.1), South Dakota (8.4) and Nebraska (6.4).
21%
The increase in the death rate from all drug overdoses in the United States from 2015 to 2016 (from 16.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015 to 19.8 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016). This rate has more than tripled since 1999, when it was 6.1 deaths per 100,000.
100%
The increase in the death rate from drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (such as fentanyl) from 2015 to 2016 (from 3.1 to 6.2 deaths per 100,000 people).
Source: Hedegaard, H., et al. Drug overdose deaths in the United States, 1999–2016opens in new window. NCHS Data Brief No. 294. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2017.
