Gun Violence Costs the US $557 Billion a Year
Losses in revenue and productivity cost employers $535 million a year — on top of added insurance spending.
Police investigate a fatal shooting in downtown Oakland, California, on Sept. 20, 2022.
Photographer: Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times/Getty Images
Gun violence that causes tens of thousands of US deaths each year — far more than any other developed nation — is having a significant, negative impact on the country's economy, Harvard Medical School researchers said.
Harvard Medical School researchers found that gun violence costs the US some $557 billion annually, or 2.6% of gross domestic product, according to the peer-reviewed study published in the journal JAMA. The majority of that cost is attributed to quality-of-life losses among those injured by firearms and their families.