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Interactive tool · CDC NCHS · 2017

Cause-of-death lookup

Pick any of the ten leading causes and rank all 50 states and DC by its age-adjusted rate per 100,000, drawn live from the complete 9,690-record CDC WONDER grid (1999–2017).

10
Leading causes
51
States + DC
9,690
Records
2017
Latest year

Result · Cancer

Kentucky has the highest age-adjusted cancer death rate at 185.7/100K - 1.5× Utah, the lowest at 120.3. Across all 51 jurisdictions, cancer accounted for 599,108 deaths in 2017.

185.7
Kentucky - highest /100K
120.3
Utah - lowest /100K
155.0
average across states
1.5×
highest vs lowest gap

Source: CDC NCHS Leading Causes of Death, 2017.

Cancer rate distribution across 51 states, 2017

Where states cluster, the marker shows the national average

155.0 Lower than 55% lower than 55% of 51 states

120.0–129.0: 2 states (4%). Below this entry. 129.0–138.0: 4 states (8%). Below this entry. 138.0–147.0: 9 states (18%). Below this entry. 147.0–156.0: 14 states (27%). This entry sits in this band. 156.0–165.0: 10 states (20%). Above this entry. 165.0–174.0: 7 states (14%). Above this entry. 174.0–183.0: 3 states (6%). Above this entry. 183.0–192.0: 2 states (4%). Above this entry. US avg 120.0 192.0 every US state, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source CDC NCHS Leading Causes of Death · 2017

Cancer death rates by state, 2017

# State Age-adj rate /100KDeaths
1 Kentucky 185.7 10,145
2 Mississippi 183.1 6,526
3 West Virginia 179.4 4,654
4 Oklahoma 177.3 8,203
5 Louisiana 174.9 9,513
6 Arkansas 173.6 6,517
7 Tennessee 173.4 14,302
8 Ohio 171.2 25,643
9 Maine 170.8 3,391
10 Indiana 170.0 13,462
11 Alabama 170.0 10,410
12 Missouri 167.3 12,971
13 Vermont 164.5 1,434
14 South Carolina 162.7 10,356
15 Michigan 161.3 20,671
16 Pennsylvania 161.0 28,387
17 Delaware 160.4 2,085
18 Iowa 158.0 6,449
19 Illinois 157.9 24,150
20 Kansas 157.2 5,494
21 North Carolina 157.1 19,474
22 South Dakota 156.9 1,715
23 Nevada 155.3 5,283
24 Georgia 154.9 17,135
25 Rhode Island 154.2 2,154
26 Oregon 154.2 8,083
27 New Hampshire 153.5 2,760
28 Wisconsin 153.2 11,318
29 Idaho 153.2 3,020
30 District of Columbia 152.8 1,031
31 Virginia 152.6 15,064
32 Nebraska 152.6 3,502
33 Montana 152.6 2,145
34 Maryland 151.5 10,796
35 Massachusetts 149.3 12,934
36 Washington 148.4 12,664
37 Minnesota 146.8 9,896
38 Texas 146.5 40,668
39 Florida 145.9 45,131
40 New Jersey 144.6 16,264
41 North Dakota 142.6 1,280
42 New York 141.2 34,956
43 Connecticut 139.6 6,608
44 Alaska 139.2 926
45 New Mexico 138.3 3,620
46 California 136.8 59,516
47 Wyoming 136.1 948
48 Arizona 135.8 12,008
49 Colorado 131.0 7,829
50 Hawaii 128.6 2,456
51 Utah 120.3 3,161

Source: CDC NCHS Leading Causes of Death, 2017. Methodology.

Explore more

Compare states State mortality finder All rankings All causes All states Mortality trends

How should I read this lookup?

What does the age-adjusted rate mean?

It is deaths per 100,000 people, standardized to the year 2000 US population so states with older or younger populations can be compared fairly. The CDC uses the same standard.

Why do some states rank so much higher than others?

Cause-specific death rates reflect differences in risk factors, healthcare access, and prevention. Southern and rural states tend to rank higher for heart disease and several chronic causes; the gap between the highest and lowest state is often 2x or more.

What year is this data from?

This tool uses 2017, the latest year of finalized CDC NCHS Leading Causes of Death data, which runs 1999 to 2017.