States with the Highest Death Rates

Your chances of dying are much higher in some states than in others, according to a National Center for Health Statistics' report analyzing the five states with the highest and lowest death rates in 2017.

Highest death rates: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia
Lowest death rates: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, and New York

The difference is not trivial. The annual number of deaths per 100,000 age-adjusted population is 926.8 in the five states with the highest death rate (the High Five) compared with 624.0 deaths per 100,000 age-adjusted population in the five states with the lowest rate (the Low Five). So, the death rate in the High Five is an astounding 49 percent higher than the death rate in the Low Five. These differences "persist when stratifying by gender, age, and race and Hispanic origin," according to the NCHS analysis.

The death rate in the High Five exceeds the death rate in the Low Five in every age group. The biggest difference occurs in the 25-to-34 and 35-to-44 age groups, where the death rate in the High Five is more than double the death rate in the Low Five.

The death rate in the High Five exceeds the death rate in the Low Five for both non-Hispanic Blacks (32 percent higher) and non-Hispanic Whites (39 percent higher). Hispanics are the only exception. The Hispanic death rate in the High Five is 27 percent lower than the Hispanic death rate in the Low Five.

The High Five has a higher death rate than the Low Five for each of the top five causes of death. The heart disease death rate is 46 percent higher, cancer 29 percent, chronic lower respiratory disease 100 percent, unintentional injuries 83 percent, and stroke 39 percent.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Mortality Patterns between Five States with Highest Death Rates and Five States with Lowest Death Rates: United States, 2017