Overview:
In 2024, 63.4 percent of crimes committed by youth using a firearm involved a handgun.
Firearms are continuing to play a major role in crimes involving Tennessee youth. According to the 2025 State Of The Child In Tennessee, firearm crimes involving youth aged 10 to 17 have increased by 87 percent. The number of offenders of the same age committing crimes with firearms have increased 35 percent.
“Though still only 11.5 percent of all crimes are committed by youth under 18, this represents a 80-percent increase in firearm use over the decade and a 5.6 percent decrease in the use of knives or blunt objects,” the report said.
The annual report, released by the Tennessee Commission On Children and Youth, used state data to compile a comprehensive outlook for the governor, the Tennessee General Assembly, and each of the state’s depository libraries.
Officials said the provides an annual overview on the well-being of the state’s children and youth. The report focuses on education, health, youth justice, and more.
In 2024, 63.4 percent of crimes committed by youths using a firearm involved a handgun. The report showed firearms were the leading cause of death in 2023 for children aged one to 17, accounting for 95 deaths. The second-leading cause was motor vehicle traffic, with 62 deaths.
The state ranked 13th in the highest rate of unintentional deaths in the nation. Out of 547 unintentional deaths from 2020 to 2023, 45 percent were from motor vehicle traffic which represented 246 deaths.
Drowning was the second leading cause for these types of deaths, followed by poisoning, and fire.
The data also shed light on the state’s infant mortality rate. The rate has “remained fairly consistent at 6.6 per 1,000 live births for 2021 to 2023. The leading cause of deaths for infants in 2023 were conditions from the perinatal period.
Though deaths were lower than the United States’ overall rate, Tennessee ranked higher than the national average in non-injury deaths consiting of congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities.
Deaths by suffocation were almost 2.5 times higher than the national rate and the third highest in the nation.
“Though there was a decline in the number of deaths between 2022 and 2023, accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed still comprised 55 of the 61 accidental infant deaths that occurred in 2023,” the report said.
The report also highlighted increased childcare costs in the state. Information compiled by the commission showed child care as the “largest household expense” for most Tennessee households.
The 2025 statewide average for infant center-based care is more than in-state tuition at all four-year public universities in the state.
“Child care costs continue to be out of reach for many families, particularly single-income households,” the report said.
The full report can be read here.