Educational Attainment and Suicide Rates in the United States

Abstract

We examined the relationship between educational attainment and suicide rate in the United States for 2001. Suicide rates, adjusted for age, were compared with percentage of college graduates, median household income, and poverty in 50 states in 2001. The correlations of suicide rates with educational attainment and median household income were both negative and statistically significant. Poverty was not significantly related to suicide rates. We concluded that higher education and income were associated with a decrease in suicide rates in 2001. Data from other years require examination for this conclusion to be generalizable.