Hotels and motels are the second most common location for fatal drug overdoses in the United States, trailing only private homes and apartments, according to a new CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published June 25, 2026. The analysis, covering 2022 through 2024 across 47 states and the District of Columbia, found that 9,651 overdose deaths, representing 5% of all overdose deaths during the period, occurred in hotels and motels. In 2024 alone, at least 2,327 people died from overdoses in these settings.
The data identify a specific, addressable gap: nearly one-third of those fatal hotel and motel overdoses occurred when a bystander was nearby and could potentially have intervened, but in the majority of those cases, no timely response occurred.
