If you are a veteran in crisis, or worried about one, call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net. You don’t need to be enrolled in VA care.
The number of veterans who died by suicide fell for a second straight year in 2024, to 6,488, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ annual suicide prevention report, released Sept. 30.
That is 174 fewer than in 2023 and more than 500 below the 2018 peak of 7,015. It works out to about 17.7 veterans a day, down from 19 a day in 2018.
The rate barely moved, though. Veterans died by suicide at a rate of 36.4 per 100,000 in 2024, compared with 36.6 the year before. For the general U.S. population, the VA’s comparison figure was 16.4. Veterans remain more than twice as likely to die by suicide.
The youngest veterans are at the highest risk. The rate for veterans 18 to 34 was 45.5 per 100,000, the highest of any age group, though it fell 4.7% from 2023. Veterans 35 to 54 were at 38.5, down 2.3%. The rate was 32.7 for those 55 to 74 and 35.8 for those 75 and older, Military Times reported.
The VA’s clearest finding is about who uses its health care. Since 2001, the suicide rate among veterans enrolled in VA care fell 2.2%. Among veterans outside the VA system, it rose 70.8%. In 2024 alone, the rate for enrolled veterans dropped 4.8%.
“VA healthcare saves lives, so we’re making every effort to get more Veterans into the system,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement.
That is where the department is putting its effort. The VA says an outreach push enrolled more than 270,000 new veterans in 2026. Its Solid Start program, which calls service members in their first year out of uniform, offers a rough measure of what contact is worth: the suicide rate was 30.5 per 100,000 among people it reached and 42.7 among those it tried and failed to reach. That comparison doesn’t prove the calls made the difference, since veterans who pick up the phone may differ from those who don’t, but the VA is citing it as evidence that early contact matters.
The department also pointed to its crisis line, which answered more than 1.3 million calls, chats and texts in fiscal 2026, up more than 7%. Since 2023, nearly 50,000 veterans have used a benefit created by the COMPACT Act that covers emergency suicide care at any hospital at no cost, whether or not they are enrolled in VA health care.
On Oct. 1, $111.9 million in grants became available to 191 community groups under the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, which pays local organizations to reach veterans the VA does not see. About 17,000 veterans, service members and family members got services through the program in 2025.
The full report and state-by-state data are posted on the VA’s suicide prevention data page. Veterans who want to enroll in VA health care can apply online at VA.gov or by calling 877-222-8387.
Where these numbers come from
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Suicide prevention data and 2026 annual report
- Military Times: Veteran suicides declined in 2024 for second straight year
- FOX 5 Atlanta: VA releases annual veteran suicide prevention report
- VA: REACH suicide prevention resources
Featured image: Airman 1st Class Lauren Jacoby / U.S. Air Force via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped)
