Drowning Data by State

Methodology

Where deaths are counted

CDC counts U.S. residents by where they lived, not where the drowning happened.

CDC’s state rates

This is the only official, published table of drowning death rates for every state that we found. It pools four years (2018-2021) and gives rates only, not death counts. For the District of Columbia, CDC shows "Unreliable" instead of a rate because there were too few deaths, and so do we.

Coast Guard boating counts

The U.S. Coast Guard counts reportable recreational boating incidents that the states, territories and DC report. A boating death can be from drowning, trauma, hypothermia or another cause. These are not the same as CDC’s drowning counts.

Coast Guard state rows

State rows follow the state reporting authority. The report says: "The reporting authority can be either the state where the incident occurred, the state in which the vessel was numbered, or, if the vessel does not have a number, the state where the vessel was principally used." USCG lists incidents three or more miles offshore in the Atlantic and Pacific, and nine or more miles in the Gulf of America, separately (not in any state).

Why sources are not mixed

CDC, the U.S. Coast Guard and WHO count different things in different ways. We keep each source in its own chart and never add their numbers together.

Data last checked October 18, 2026. We copy numbers exactly as the source publishes them. We do not estimate, model or add up numbers. Found a mistake? Tell us and we will check it against the source.