Washington's overdose death rate grew by the largest percentage of any state, 2014-2024

What this chart asks

Which states had the largest growth in overdose death rates from 2014 to 2024?

Why it is shown this way

• One bar per state shows where Washington stands among all 50.
• Each label starts with the state's rank so the bars run from largest to smallest increase.
• Color marks the 13 western states, where fentanyl arrived later than in the East.
• Age-adjusted rates are CDC's standard for comparing states with different age mixes; the dataset gives crude rates too, and Washington ranks 1st on both.

Data and accessibility

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Dataset state-overdose-growth-2014-2024, analysis growth-by-state

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Growth in drug overdose death rates by state, 2014-2024

1. CDC National Center for Health Statistics 2014 drug overdose (drug poisoning) deaths, population, crude and age-adjusted rates by state, both sexes, all ages.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Permitted

   Reliability: Government. NCHS builds these figures from every death certificate filed in the U.S. through the National Vital Statistics System, the same data CDC WONDER serves. Deaths are counted by state of residence.

2. CDC National Center for Health Statistics Final age-adjusted drug overdose death rates and deaths by state of residence, 2015-2024 (map data file behind the page). Not used for 2014, where its Arizona and Arkansas rows are swapped.

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Permitted

   Reliability: Government. Official NCHS state statistics from final National Vital Statistics System mortality files, age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population.

3. CDC National Center for Health Statistics U.S. final 2024 overdose deaths (79,384) and age-adjusted rate (23.1).

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Permitted

   Reliability: Government. Official NCHS data brief from final 2024 mortality data.

4. CDC National Center for Health Statistics U.S. final age-adjusted rates, 2014-2023.

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Permitted

   Reliability: Government. Official NCHS data brief from final mortality data.

5. CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Rapid Release Provisional 12-month counts ending December 2024 for every state (predicted values), and Washington counts involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (T40.4), 2019-2024. Free copy

   Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Permitted

   Reliability: Government. Provisional death-certificate counts by state where the death happened, updated monthly; predicted values adjust for reporting delays.

6. U.S. Census Bureau July 1, 2024 resident population by state (Vintage 2024), used to compute 2024 crude rates.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Permitted

   Reliability: Government. Official Census Bureau population estimates program, based on the 2020 Census plus births, deaths and migration.

7. Washington Policy Center The claim checked: executive summary of "Homelessness in Washington State" (Eric Zimmerman, March 2026).

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. All rights reserved (quoted for review). Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Advocacy group. Has a stake in this finding. Washington Policy Center is a free-market think tank. The report argues that drug use and drug policy, more than rent, drive Washington homelessness, so the overdose ranking supports its thesis.

8. Washington Policy Center Full report, including its method notes (crude rates; CDC WONDER 2014 and NVSS 2024 provisional data).

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. All rights reserved (quoted for review). Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: Advocacy group. Has a stake in this finding. Same report as the executive summary; its method pages state that 2014-2024 growth uses crude rates and 2024 projected (provisional) counts.

9. KIRO Newsradio (MyNorthwest) Interview in which report author Eric Zimmerman states Washington went from 29th in 2014 to 4th in 2024.

   Retrieved November 3, 2026. All rights reserved (quoted for review). Linked, not hosted.

   Reliability: News report. Article by host John Curley quoting Zimmerman directly, July 19, 2026.

Limitations

• Percent change from 2014 depends on each state's 2014 starting level; states that already had high rates in 2014 show smaller percentages.
• Starting in 2015, 2019 or 2020 instead of 2014 puts Washington 3rd, behind Alaska and Oregon.
• Small states such as Alaska, Vermont and North Dakota have few deaths, so their percentages move more from year to year.
• The chart shows change, not cause.
• Measured as deaths added per 100,000 rather than percent change, Alaska rose more than Washington (+28.3 vs +24.3).