← All resources

Public data & trends

Official U.S. provisional counts of drug overdose deaths help show the scale of the crisis. These figures are for education and advocacy—not medical advice. If someone may be overdosing, call 911.

Call 911 now SAMHSA Helpline 1-800-662-HELP Symptom recognition

These numbers are early government counts of drug overdose deaths in the United States. They can still change as more records are finished. They are not a medical diagnosis.

70,637
Lives lost to overdose
About the last 12 months through December 2025
80,860
The year before
December 2024 · about 13% down since then
109,413
Highest year so far
Worst point in this chart · December 2022
38,458
Deaths involving synthetic opioids
Includes powerful drugs such as fentanyl · December 2025

U.S. drug overdose deaths over time

Each bar is roughly one year of overdose deaths in the United States (the 12 months ending in December of that year). Newer years are early counts and may still be updated by the CDC.

Same series in table form for accessibility
Year (Dec.)Deaths
2015 52,623
2016 63,938
2017 70,699
2018 67,850
2019 71,130
2020 92,478
2021 107,573
2022 109,413
2023 106,881
2024 80,860
2025 70,637

Cache updated: 2026-08-31T20:00:00+00:00

States with the highest counts

Provisional 12 month-ending totals by state of occurrence (December 2025).

State Deaths
California (CA) 9,049
Texas (TX) 4,491
Florida (FL) 4,079
Arizona (AZ) 2,978
Washington (WA) 2,968
Pennsylvania (PA) 2,866
Ohio (OH) 2,452
North Carolina (NC) 2,428
Tennessee (TN) 2,132
New York City (YC) 1,963
Illinois (IL) 1,962
Colorado (CO) 1,819
New York (NY) 1,808
Michigan (MI) 1,768
Georgia (GA) 1,664
New Jersey (NJ) 1,597
Indiana (IN) 1,411
Maryland (MD) 1,387
Massachusetts (MA) 1,337
South Carolina (SC) 1,336
Virginia (VA) 1,283
Missouri (MO) 1,238
Nevada (NV) 1,230
Louisiana (LA) 1,207
Kentucky (KY) 1,177

Angels on the APALD wall

These are approved memorials on this website, not official death certificates. They show how families have chosen to remember loved ones with APALD.

264

Approved memorials

State Memorials
OH 26
AZ 26
TN 21
MO 20
FL 19
PA 17
TX 16
NC 13
IN 12
NY 11
VA 7
MI 7
CA 7
AL 6
KY 5

Sources

United States and selected states, 12 month-ending counts for December. Provisional data may be incomplete and can be revised. Not a substitute for final NCHS publications.