Jennifer Mendoza
Research expert covering health, pharma and medtech
Unintentional injury in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts
Unintentional injuries or accidents are the third leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for around seven percent of all deaths in 2023. An estimated 222,698 people died from unintentional injuries that year, with the death rate reaching around 66.5 deaths per 100,000 population. The rate of death from unintentional injuries has increased in the United States over the past decade with the rise in unintentional opioid overdose deaths playing a large role. Poisoning is by far the most common unintentional injury that leads to death in the United States, followed by falls and motor vehicle accidents.
Occupational injury
Accidents in the workplace, or occupational injuries, have decreased since the early 1990s, but remain a serious danger within specific occupations. Leading causes of disabling workplace injuries include overexertion, falls, and being struck by an object or equipment. Occupations with high fatal work injury rates include logging workers, fishing and hunting workers, and roofers. In 2023, there were approximately 5,283 occupational injury deaths in the United States with the largest portion involving those aged 55 to 64 years.Motor vehicle injuries
Motor vehicle injuries are the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death, with the odds of dying in such an accident around 1 in 95. Rates of death from motor vehicle injuries have decreased significantly since the 1970s as technology has improved the safety of motor vehicles. In 1970, there were 26.8 deaths from motor vehicle injuries per 100,000 population, but, by 2023, this rate had decreased to 13.4 per 100,000 population. The risk of motor vehicle injury can depend on the vehicle type, make, and model. In 2022, light trucks accounted for around 43 percent of vehicles involved in fatal traffic crashes.Spinal and head injuries
Some of the worst unintentional injuries involve spinal cord or head injuries, or more specifically, brain trauma. These types of injuries can lead to permanent physical or mental disability and even death. Motor vehicles resulted in the largest share of spinal cord injuries between 2015 and 2024, accounting for 37.3 percent of such injuries. As of 2024, there were around 18,400 spinal cord injuries every year and about 29 percent of people with such injuries were re-hospitalized in any given year. In addition to the severity of these injuries, they can also be very costly. For example, the estimated lifetime cost of a patient who is 25 years old and suffering from paraplegia in the United States was over three million dollars as of 2024.
