Kansas Suicide Rates Are Climbing, Especially In The State’s Most Rural Areas

The number of suicides in northwest Kansas increased by more than half in recent years.

Twenty counties in the region saw suicides climb by 57% from 2014 through 2018.

That jump comes in a part of the state where people already die by suicide at a higher rate than in the rest of Kansas.

In Kansas “frontier” counties — places with fewer than six people per square mile — about 26 people a year out of every 100,000 die by suicide. Statewide, Kansas sees fewer than 18 suicides per 100,000 people, according to a report by the Kansas Health Institute

And overall, Kansas had 555 suicides in 2018, up 2% from the previous year. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the 2018 suicide rate was the highest in 20 years.