Among males, farming, fishing, and forestry also accounted for the highest rates of suicide (90.5 per 100,000), whereas the highest rate among females (14.1) was among workers in the protective service occupational group. In 2012, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death among persons aged ≥16 years in the United States, with approximately 40,000 suicide deaths reported among persons aged ≥16 years. Understanding suicides by occupational group provides an opportunity for prevention, but such data have not been reported recently for a broad population or examined by sex and occupation classification. In 2012, approximately 40,000 suicides were reported in the United States, making suicide the 10th leading reported cause of death for persons aged ≥16 years (1). To inform suicide prevention efforts, CDC analyzed suicide by occupational group, by ascribing occupational codes to 12,312 suicides in 17 states in 2012 from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) (2). Overall, the lowest rate of suicide (7.5) was found in the education, training, and library occupational group. * 
 
 NVDRS Occupation Title and Industry Title fields were used to assign each suicide decedent to one of the major occupational groups defined by the national Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system (3). First, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System (NIOCCS) (4) was applied to the 12,312 suicides in the data set, resulting in SOC codes for 5,532 (44.9%) decedents (Figure). Rates of suicide varied by sex, with higher rates among males than females in all occupational groups (Table 2). Among males, the highest suicide rates were among persons in the following three occupational groups: farming, fishing, and forestry (90.5 per 100,000); construction and extraction (52.5); and installation, maintenance, and repair (47.5). Among females, the highest suicide rates occurred among persons in the following three occupational groups: protective service occupations (e.g., law enforcement officers and firefighters) (14.1 per 100,000); legal (13.9); and healthcare practitioners and technical (13.3) (Table 2).
– Teachers and librarians have the lowest suicide rate while farmers and fishermen have the highest, according to a CDC study of 12,300 suicides in 17 states in 2012. Why the discrepancy? Researchers say "job-related isolation and demands, stressful work environments, and work-home imbalance, as well as socioeconomic inequities" likely play a role, per the AP. Here are the 10 fields as grouped by the CDC with the highest rates, based on the number of suicides per 100,000 workers: Farming, fishing, and forestry: 84.5 Carpenters, miners, electricians, construction trades: 53.3 Mechanics and those who do installation, maintenance, repair: 47.9 Factory and production workers: 34.5 Architecture and engineering: 32.2 Police, firefighters, corrections workers, others in protective services: 30.5 Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media: 24.3 Computer and mathematical: 23.3 Transportation workers: 22.3 Corporate executives and managers, advertising, and PR: 20.3 Click for the full list.