Suicides in San Diego County have increased for past three years

For the third consecutive year, San Diego County’s suicide rate increased slightly, continuing a trend that is gradually returning the region to rates of self-harm seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The San Diego County Suicide Prevention Council released its annual report Tuesday, which records 377 suicides in 2024, a 3% increase over the 363 documented cases in 2023.

There were 11.4 suicides per 100,000 residents, according to the council’s calculations, in 2024. While higher than it was in 2021, that number remains significantly lower than it was in 2018 when 435 suicides occurred, a rate of 13.1 per 100,000.

The local picture continues to look better than the nation’s. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 14.2 suicides per 100,000 residents nationwide in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available. San Diego County’s rate was 11 per 100,000 that year, slightly greater than the statewide rate of 10.8.

Suicide deaths, according to the report, were most common among white men age 70 to 79. Firearms and asphyxia are the most common methods of suicide. Local communities with the highest suicide rates in 2024 include: Valley Center, Santee, Ramona, Lakeside, Central San Diego and Oceanside. Those communities are said to have per-capita rates ranging from 14.1 to 17.3 per 1...