The root cause seems to be lack of education and drug abuse epidemic.

Let's say we got to a point where every single individual has a bachelors or higher? What would that change? What about if everyone got a Masters or higher?

You think this will change anything? I doubt it, there would just be an increase in the job requirements due to credential inflation.

You're conflating education with credentials.

Imagine instead if every single individual could: read and write at a high level, think critically, compare loan options rationally, perform their own limited legal research (tenants' rights, welfare eligibility and application), plan their own investment strategy for retirement, etc. It would be a huge boon.

True, education is to help realize one’s full potential. It’s not about credentials.

And you are conflating acquiring skills with education.

IMO, education is the gateway to opportunities and helps achieve financial independence which in turn is the gateway to a better health. There may be a correlation between these suicides and the people possibly not having access to those (opportunities and the resultant independence).

Poverty could be behind these suicides as it can cause a tremendous amount of stress which may lead to chronic depression and anxiety, and for temporary relief people look to drugs/alcohol and those with addiction are at higher risk for suicide. AFAIK, most addicts are poor, unemployed, and uneducated and I see a clear correlation between economic status and abuse.

Some articles worth glancing through:

Suicide: One of Addiction’s Hidden Risks https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/real-healing/201402/sui...

http://www.dualdiagnosis.org/drug-addiction/economic-status/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/07/suicide-rate...

And, here’s a related study by Princeton academics who won the 2014 Nobel Prize for economics.

http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078.full.pdf

Lack of education, or an increase in education[1]?

[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d1/Educati...

Maybe access to guns / prescription drugs?

I'm pretty sure this is precisely the fault of Purdue Pharma.

Could it be related to the rising income disparity?

2000 was historical low for US suicide rate.

However, the current suicide rate is more or less in line with historical average.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Suicide-...

It could be, but what could give rise to such disparity?

The Washington Monthly article Bloom and Bust (http://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/novdec-2015/bloom-and-...) lists some of the causes of the rise in regional inequality.

That's an informative article. Thank you.