This trend is consistent across age groups. Looking at the rate of suicide deaths in Massachusetts, men over the age of 85 die at the highest rates. Among men 55 and older, the rate of suicide death increases with age, but the rate declines with age for women 55 and older. These trends hold true at the national level too. Older men face declines in physical and cognitive functioning along with loneliness and the death of many friends and family. Because there are more men in younger age groups, the number of men that die by suicide is higher at younger ages, but as a rate, older men are more likely to die by suicide.

At a rate of 15 per 100,000 people, White men in Massachusetts die by suicide at the highest rates, followed by Black men at a rate of 9 per 100,000. Meanwhile, Latino and Asian men die of suicide at a rate of 8 and 5 per 100,000, respectively. Nationally, American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) men die at by far the highest rates, but the opposite appears true in Massachusetts, where AIAN men die by suicide at extremely low rates. For instance, there were zero reported Native American suicide deaths in Massachusetts in 2021 and data were suppressed for 2022. These numbers likely fluctuate a lot from year to year because of the relatively small Native American population in Massachusetts.

Below is the data from our previous research brief on teenage mental health, showing that teenage girls report roughly twice the likelihood of suicidal ideation and attempt.

But what we omitted from that prior analysis of teenage mental health is that for deaths the disparity flips, with teenage boys dying at twice the rate.

Confounding the issue further is that in adulthood, males actually report slightly higher levels of suicidal ideation: 5 percent of men in Massachusetts over the age of 18 years report experiencing suicidal ideation compared to 4 percent of women. And again, adult men die by suicide at more than three times the rate of adult women.

What’s also missing from this analysis is data on gender non-conforming people. The data sources we used to make the two proceeding graphs don’t allow for disaggregation by gender identity beyond male or female. However, other data sources indicate that transgender and nonbinary youth report suicidal ideation and attempt at much higher rates than both males and females. According to an annual survey conducted by the Trevor Project, in 2022, 51 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth in Massachusetts seriously considered suicide in the past year and 15 percent attempted suicide. No data are available to tell us how many gender non-conforming youth have died by suicide.

Suicidal ideation and deaths are difficult to track in uniform ways, and understandably so. Data on suicidal ideation come from survey research where many factors—like the wording of questions, sample population, and individual willingness to disclose feelings—can make a big difference.

Measurement of suicide deaths is likely more objective than self-reporting on ideation, but even with death metrics, there are complications. Ongoing stigma surrounding suicide can prompt underreporting of suicide as the primary cause on death certificates, as can a lack of consistent standards for determining cause of death. This is all to say that the data in this research brief is helpful for analyzing broad social trends, but any one datapoint should be interpreted with real caution.

Suicidal ideation and attempts are critical signs that often precede suicide deaths, so why do males die of suicide at such high rates? Our first thought went to the method that males use, thinking that perhaps men were more likely to use guns, which are highly lethal. We don’t have data on method of death by age or race, but we do know from the 2021 Massachusetts Death Report that women died by suicide most often by poisoning (45 percent) while men died most often by hanging, strangulation, and suffocation (42 percent) or firearm (27 percent). The more prominent male methods may generally be more lethal, but in Massachusetts guns are only the second most common method, which diverges from the national trend where 55% percent of suicide deaths were with a firearm.

Other possible explanations include differences in how males and females process and express emotions. Men may be less conscious of their emotions or may feel less comfortable sharing their struggles and disclosing suicidal thoughts. These social dynamics could exacerbate the challenges men face in accessing help to address mental health issues. To be clear, though, we are just beginning to research these issues and do not feel like we have strong answers yet.

The recent focus in the public health field on mental health challenges of girls and women are very warranted given the reported trends about sadness and suicidal ideation and attempt. Trends also show, though, that suicide deaths really do disproportionately impact men more than women, and so specific attention is needed to better understand and address this issue.

For a deeper exploration of these issues at the national level, please see two recent analyses by our partners at the American Institute on Boys and Men: 1) a detailed walk-through of the data at the national level: Male Suicide: Patterns and Recent Trends; and 2) and more pointed commentary on the lack of coverage of male suicide deaths: Willful ignorance of the male suicide crisis.