"Teen suicide rate in Utah is 3.5% higher than national average, second to that of Minnesota."
- Frederick C. Kubicek , The Mormon Doctrine - Is It Christian?, Unlimited Glory Ministries
"MORMONS WON'T TELL YOU that the state of Utah...has a higher than the national average of...teenage suicide."
- Facts: Mormons Wont Tell You When They Call at Your Door, MacGregor Ministries
"Utah's teenage suicide rate exceeds the other states by a factor of nearly three."
- Jeff McCauley, My Three Weeks as a Mormon: Theological Errors of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Debunking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
"The suicide rate...among Utah teenagers has consistently led the national average."
- Larry Hall, Stop Hurting My Children!, Sword of the Spirit Apologetics
"Social statistics from Utah...show that places where Mormonism is strongest have higher rates of...teen suicide...than the nation as a whole."
- James R. Spencer, Why I Love Mormons, but not Mormonism, Take a Stand! Ministries
"Their...youth suicide rates...are above the Western US average."
- John L. Smith, The Truth About Mormonism, The Ministry of John L. Smith
"While the number of teen suicides in America has tripled in the past decade, Utah has consistently been 3.5% higher than the national average."
- Mark A. Taylor, Sin & Death in Mormon Country: A Latter-day Tragedy, Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons
"Suicides among Utah children 10 to 14 increased 112 percent between 1980 and 1987...."
- Michael Cranford, Why I’m Not A Mormon, Sundoulos
- Rich Branch, Mormonism and the Family: How Much Is That Family In The Window?, The Watchman Expositor 6(10)
"Utah has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation (especially high among teenagers)."
- Derick S. Hartshorn, Bearing the Testimony of Truth, Saints Alive in Jesus
"...the actual rate of [teen] suicide in Utah remained much higher than the national average."
- Leslie Anderson, Statistics on Suicide, Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons
"[T]he Utah teenage suicide is 3 times the national average!"
- Annonymous, Bing’s Mormonisms, Bing’s Mormon Corner
"Teen suicide is growing."
- Waana, Reasons Why The Mormon Church Is Not True, posted on Recovery from Mormonism, 5/18/02
Figure 1 shows the teen suicide rates for Utah, the western United States*, and the entire United States. Rates are the number of suicides per 100,000 residents ages 10-19.
Figure 1. Teen suicide rates for the United States and Utah, 1979-1999.
* Includes AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY. California was excluded because its rate is dramatically lower than the other states, and including it would significantly skew the average. In fact, California is the only state in the continental U.S. west of the Mississippi with a rate lower than the national average!
Table 1. State teen suicide rates for the United States and Utah, and Utah's rank, 1990-1999.
| Year | High | Average | Low | Utah | Rank |
| 1990 | 15.9 MT* | 6.4 | 2.3 RI* | 11.3 | 9 |
| 1991 | 17.0 WY* | 6.2 | 1.1 DE* | 8.0 | 19 |
| 1992 | 14.0 WY* | 6.1 | 2.3 DE* | 12.2 | 3 |
| 1993 | 21.1 AK* | 6.1 | 3.3 DE* | 10.4 | 7 |
| 1994 | 17.4 AK* | 6.2 | 2.3 NJ | 10.3 | 8 |
| 1995 | 14.3 MT* | 6.0 | 1.6 RI* | 11.6 | 6 |
| 1996 | 15.7 AK* | 5.6 | 2.0 NJ | 10.3 | 5 |
| 1997 | 15.6 SD* | 5.5 | 2.3 RI* | 12.2 | 4 |
| 1998 | 17.4 AK* | 5.3 | 2.0 DE* | 9.5 | 6 |
| 1999 | 19.7 WY* | 4.7 | 1.9 NJ* | 7.0 | 12 |
| Average | 14.8 AK | 5.8 | 2.6 NJ | 10.3 | 8 |
The following map shows how teen suicide rates vary across the country.
Figure 2. State teen suicide rates, 1990-1999 average
Figure 3 shows the suicide rate for young teens in Utah and the United States. Rates are the number of suicides per 100,000 residents ages 10-14. The table below the chart shows the actual number of suicides for this age group each year.
Figure 3. Young teen suicide rates for the United States and Utah, 1979-1999.
