PlainHealth

Key findings · CDC NCHS · 2017

U.S. mortality statistics

8 citable findings from the CDC NCHS leading-cause mortality record - 2,081,531 deaths across the ten leading causes in 2017. Every figure is queried live and free to cite.

Data updated 2017-12-31

2,081,531
Deaths, 2017
60%
Heart + Cancer share
55.5
Avg age-adj /100K
1999–2017
Coverage

Key Findings

1

In 2017, the 10 NCHS leading causes of death accounted for 2,081,531 recorded deaths across 51 U.S. jurisdictions (50 states and the District of Columbia).

2

Heart disease was the leading cause by raw death count in 2017, with 647,457 deaths, ahead of cancer at 599,108.

3

Together, heart disease and cancer accounted for 60% of all leading-cause deaths in 2017.

4

The age-adjusted Alzheimer's disease death rate rose 83% from 17.5 per 100,000 in 1999 to 32.1 in 2017 (national average of state rates).

5

Stroke age-adjusted mortality fell 41% over the same span, from 62.9 per 100,000 in 1999 to 37.4 in 2017.

6

Suicide age-adjusted mortality rose 40% from 11.8 per 100,000 in 1999 to 16.5 in 2017.

7

Among states in 2017, Oklahoma recorded the highest age-adjusted heart-disease death rate at 237.2 per 100,000, while Minnesota recorded the lowest at 119.1.

8

Unintentional-injury age-adjusted mortality rose 41% from 38.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 54.0 in 2017.

Every finding above is computed at request time from the same CDC NCHS grid that powers state and cause pages. Age-adjusted rates use the 2000 U.S. standard population. Raw death counts reflect population size as well as risk and should not be read as a state safety ranking on their own.

Leading causes of death, 2017

In 2017, Heart disease and Cancer together accounted for 60% of the 2,081,531 deaths across the ten leading causes. Exact figures from the CDC NCHS Underlying Cause of Death dataset:

# Cause Deaths (2017) Avg rate /100K Trend (1999-2017)
1 Heart disease 647,457 166.0 Rate down 35%
2 Cancer 599,108 155.0 Rate down 23%
3 Unintentional injuries 169,936 54.0 Rate up 41%
4 CLRD 160,201 43.8 Rate down 7%
5 Stroke 146,383 37.4 Rate down 41%
6 Alzheimer's disease 121,404 32.1 Rate up 83%
7 Diabetes 83,564 22.0 Rate down 14%
8 Influenza and pneumonia 55,672 14.9 Rate down 39%
9 Kidney disease 50,633 12.8 Rate ~flat
10 Suicide 47,173 16.5 Rate up 40%

Using these figures

Every number on this page is read directly from the CDC WONDER Underlying Cause of Death dataset at the data vintage shown above; nothing is estimated or hand-entered. The dataset covers 19 years (1999-2017) across all 50 states and DC. PlainHealth is an independent project and is not affiliated with the CDC. See our methodology for full detail.

Download the open grid: cdc-nchs-leading-causes.csv (9,690 state-cause-year rows; same source as these findings).