Mortality Data by State
Dual rankings for 2017: absolute leading-cause death volume versus mean age-adjusted rate across the same CDC NCHS chapters. Then open any state for cause-level detail.
Coverage status: All 50 U.S. states + District of Columbia, federal CDC NCHS Leading Causes of Death dataset 1999-2017 (19 years x 10 leading causes x 51 jurisdictions = 9,690 complete records). No data outside the United States, see methodology for full coverage scope.
Download the compiled NCHS mortality extract: cdc-nchs-leading-causes.csv (same extract as /statistics).
Volume vs age-adjusted burden (2017)
California leads absolute volume (206,761 leading-cause deaths) while Mississippi leads mean age-adjusted rate (72.3 per 100,000) - different questions, same vintage.
Highest leading-cause death volume
| # | State | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 206,761 |
| 2 | Florida | 152,459 |
| 3 | Texas | 144,582 |
| 4 | New York | 116,463 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 99,156 |
| 6 | Ohio | 91,436 |
| 7 | Illinois | 80,704 |
| 8 | Michigan | 74,526 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 67,734 |
| 10 | Georgia | 60,932 |
| 11 | New Jersey | 54,747 |
| 12 | Tennessee | 52,331 |
Highest mean age-adjusted rate
Mean of available age-adjusted rates across leading-cause chapters (per 100,000).
| # | State | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | 72.3 |
| 2 | Oklahoma | 69.9 |
| 3 | West Virginia | 69.9 |
| 4 | Arkansas | 69.2 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 67.5 |
| 6 | Alabama | 67.3 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 66.4 |
| 8 | Louisiana | 66.1 |
| 9 | Ohio | 62.7 |
| 10 | Indiana | 61.8 |
| 11 | Missouri | 61.7 |
| 12 | South Carolina | 60.1 |
All states A–Z
State directory FAQ
- Which state recorded the most leading-cause deaths in 2017?
- California leads absolute volume with 206,761 deaths across the CDC NCHS leading-cause chapters in 2017. Absolute counts track population size more than age-adjusted burden.
- Which state has the highest average age-adjusted leading-cause rate in 2017?
- Mississippi leads mean age-adjusted rate at 72.3 per 100,000 across the same leading-cause chapters. Rate and volume leaders can diverge when a smaller state carries heavier age-adjusted burden.
- Is average age-adjusted rate the same as an all-cause death rate?
- No. The rate here is the mean of available age-adjusted rates across the ten leading CDC NCHS cause chapters for that state-year, not a single all-cause WONDER rate. Use it to compare relative burden across states in this extract, then open a state profile for cause-level detail.
- How many jurisdictions does this directory cover?
- This hub covers 51 jurisdictions (50 states + D.C.) with CDC NCHS Leading Causes of Death rows for 2017. See methodology for vintage and ICD chapter scope.
How State Mortality Profiles Are Built
Each state profile draws from the CDC NCHS Leading Causes of Death dataset (1999-2017), aggregated by ICD-10 chapter into the 10 leading causes. Age-adjusted rates come from CDC WONDER and use the year 2000 US standard population, so comparisons across states are not distorted by demographic aging. State-level data can mask urban-rural variation within a state.