An average of 17.5 veterans die by suicide every day in the United States, based on the most recent data from the Department of Veterans Affairs covering 2022. That translates to roughly 6,392 veteran deaths by suicide in a single year. While this figure has remained relatively stable over the past several years, it represents a suicide rate that consistently outpaces the civilian population.
How the Daily Number Breaks Down
The 17.5-per-day figure is a statistical average drawn from annual totals, so the actual count varies from day to day. What makes this number striking is who it represents. Veterans make up less than 6% of the U.S. adult population but account for a disproportionate share of all suicides nationwide. The suicide rate among veterans is roughly 1.5 times higher than the rate for non-veteran adults after adjusting for age.
Veterans aged 55 and older account for 60% of all veteran suicides. In 2022, there were 3,860 deaths in this age group alone, at a rate of 32.2 per 100,000. That means of those 17.5 daily deaths, roughly 10 or 11 are older veterans, many of whom served decades ago and may have had limited contact with the VA system.
The highest rate per capita, though, belongs to younger veterans. Those aged 18 to 34 died by suicide at a rate of 47.6 per 100,000 in 2022, totaling 849 deaths that year. The rate is highest among younger veterans, but the raw numbers are largest among older ones simply because there are far more veterans over 55.
Women Veterans Face Elevated Risk
Female veterans die by suicide at twice the rate of civilian women. In the most recent detailed analysis, the suicide rate for women veterans was 15.1 per 100,000, compared to roughly half that among women who never served. While male veterans still account for the vast majority of veteran suicides by sheer numbers, the gap between female veterans and their civilian peers is proportionally larger, and it has been growing.
The First Year After Service Is the Most Dangerous
Veterans who have recently left the military face an especially high-risk window. During the first year after separation from service, the suicide rate is more than double that of active-duty service members and nearly double that of the broader veteran population. Researchers have called this period a “deadly gap” because veterans often lose access to their military mental health services before they’ve connected with VA or community-based care. They’re navigating a major life transition with fewer support structures than they had in uniform.
This pattern is well-established enough that a 2018 presidential executive order specifically targeted the first 12 months after discharge as a priority window for outreach and suicide prevention. The challenge is reaching veterans who may not yet be enrolled in VA healthcare or who don’t identify their struggles as something that warrants help.
Brain Injuries, Depression, and Risk Factors
The factors behind veteran suicide are layered and often overlap. Traumatic brain injury is one of the clearest risk amplifiers. Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffered multiple brain injuries were about twice as likely to report recent suicidal thoughts compared to those with one injury or none. Among veterans with a history of multiple TBIs, nearly 20% reported suicidal thinking in the past week, compared to 11% with a single TBI and 9% with none.
Interestingly, PTSD alone was not consistently linked to suicidal thinking in veterans with brain injuries. Major depression turned out to be a stronger predictor. That distinction matters because it suggests that the pathway to suicidal crisis in veterans often runs through depression, whether or not PTSD is also present. Many veterans experience both conditions simultaneously, which complicates treatment but also highlights the importance of screening for depression specifically.
Other contributing factors include chronic pain, substance use, relationship breakdowns, financial stress, and the loss of purpose and identity that can follow military service. These problems frequently cluster together, and the risk compounds when multiple stressors hit at once.
What Prevention Efforts Look Like Now
The VA’s primary crisis resource is the Veterans Crisis Line, reachable by dialing 988 and pressing 1. In fiscal year 2025, the service handled 1.3 million calls, chats, and text conversations, a 39% increase over the previous year. Veterans who use the line report a 97% satisfaction rate, suggesting that when veterans do reach out, the response is effective.
The larger problem is the gap between available services and veterans who never access them. A significant portion of veterans who die by suicide had no recent contact with the VA healthcare system. This is particularly true for older veterans and those who separated from service years or decades ago. Outreach efforts have increasingly focused on meeting veterans outside traditional VA settings, through community organizations, employers, and peer support networks, rather than waiting for them to seek help on their own.