In 2023, there were approximately 750.5 deaths by all causes per 100,000 inhabitants in the United States. This statistic shows the death rate for all causes in the United States between 1950 and 2023. Causes of death in the U.S. Over the past decades, chronic conditions and non-communicable diseases have come to the forefront of health concerns and have contributed to major causes of death all over the globe. In 2022, the leading cause of death in the U.S. was heart disease, followed by cancer. However, the death rates for both heart disease and cancer have decreased in the U.S. over the past two decades. On the other hand, the number of deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease – which is strongly linked to cardiovascular disease- has increased by almost 141 percent between 2000 and 2021. Risk and lifestyle factors Lifestyle factors play a major role in cardiovascular health and the development of various diseases and conditions. Modifiable lifestyle factors that are known to reduce risk of both cancer and cardiovascular disease among people of all ages include smoking cessation, maintaining a healthy diet, and exercising regularly. An estimated two million new cases of cancer in the U.S. are expected in 2025.

In 2024, about **** million deaths were reported in the United States. This reflected a slight decrease from the previous year, and an ** percent decrease from the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

This dataset contains counts of deaths for California counties based on information entered on death certificates. Final counts are derived from static data and include out-of-state deaths to California residents, whereas provisional counts are derived from incomplete and dynamic data. Provisional counts are based on the records available when the data was retrieved and may not represent all deaths that occurred during the time period. Deaths involving injuries from external or environmental forces, such as accidents, homicide and suicide, often require additional investigation that tends to delay certification of the cause and manner of death. This can result in significant under-reporting of these deaths in provisional data.

The final data tables include both deaths that occurred in each California county regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence) and deaths to residents of each California county (by residence), whereas the provisional data table only includes deaths that occurred in each county regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence). The data are reported as totals, as well as stratified by age, gender, race-ethnicity, and death place type. Deaths due to all causes (ALL) and selected underlying cause of death categories are provided. See temporal coverage for more information on which combinations are available for which years.

The cause of death categories are based solely on the underlying cause of death as coded by the International Classification of Diseases. The underlying cause of death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury." It is a single value assigned to each death based on the details as entered on the death certificate. When more than one cause is listed, the order in which they are listed can affect which cause is coded as the underlying cause. This means that similar events could be coded with different underlying causes of death depending on variations in how they were entered. Consequently, while underlying cause of death provides a convenient comparison between cause of death categories, it may not capture the full impact of each cause of death as it does not always take into account all conditions contributing to the death.

From 2018 to 2023, heart disease and cancer accounted for the highest share of deaths in the United States. In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death, accounting for around 12 percent of all deaths in 2021. However, by 2023, COVID-19 was responsible for only 1.6 percent of deaths, making it the tenth leading cause of death. This statistic shows the distribution of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States from 2018 to 2023.

NOTE: This dataset has been retired and marked as historical-only. This dataset is a companion to the COVID-19 Daily Cases and Deaths dataset (https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/naz8-j4nc). The major difference in this dataset is that the case, death, and hospitalization corresponding rates per 100,000 population are not those for the single date indicated. They are rolling averages for the seven-day period ending on that date. This rolling average is used to account for fluctuations that may occur in the data, such as fewer cases being reported on weekends, and small numbers. The intent is to give a more representative view of the ongoing COVID-19 experience, less affected by what is essentially noise in the data. All rates are per 100,000 population in the indicated group, or Chicago, as a whole, for “Total” columns. Only Chicago residents are included based on the home address as provided by the medical provider. Cases with a positive molecular (PCR) or antigen test are included in this dataset. Cases are counted based on the date the test specimen was collected. Deaths among cases are aggregated by day of death. Hospitalizations are reported by date of first hospital admission. Demographic data are based on what is reported by medical providers or collected by CDPH during follow-up investigation. Denominators are from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 1-year estimate for 2018 and can be seen in the Citywide, 2018 row of the Chicago Population Counts dataset (https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/85cm-7uqa). All data are provisional and subject to change. Information is updated as additional details are received and it is, in fact, very common for recent dates to be incomplete and to be updated as time goes on. At any given time, this dataset reflects cases and deaths currently known to CDPH. Numbers in this dataset may differ from other public sources due to definitions of COVID-19-related cases and deaths, sources used, how cases and deaths are associated to a specific date, and similar factors. Data Source: Illinois National Electronic Disease Surveillance System, Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey

Rank, number of deaths, percentage of deaths, and age-specific mortality rates for the leading causes of death, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

Context:

This dataset provides data on death rates for suicide categorized by selected population characteristics including sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age in the United States. It includes critical information about measures, definitions, and changes over time.

Source: - NCHS, National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) - Grove RD, Hetzel AM. Vital statistics rates in the United States, 1940–1960. National Center for Health Statistics. 1968 - Numerator data from NVSS annual public-use Mortality Files - Denominator data from U.S. Census Bureau national population estimates - Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD, Arias E, Tejada-Vera B. Deaths: Final data for 2018. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 69 no 13. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2021

Source URLs:

Death rates for suicide by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age: United States - HUS 2019 Data Finder - National Vital Statistics Reports - NVSS Appendix Entry

Dataset Details and Key Features

The dataset consists of data collected from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and the U.S. Census Bureau, providing a comprehensive overview of suicide death rates across different demographics in the United States from 1950 to 2001.

Key Features:

• Historical Coverage: Data spans from 1950 to 2001, providing long-term trends.
• Demographic Breakdown: Includes data by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age, facilitating targeted analysis.
• Yearly Data: Provides annual death rate estimates, enabling year-over-year comparison.
• Reliable Sources: Data collected from NVSS and U.S. Census Bureau, ensuring accuracy and reliability.

Usage:

Research and Analysis:

• Trend Analysis: Study long-term trends in suicide rates across different demographic groups.
• Impact Assessment: Analyze the impact of socio-economic factors on suicide rates over time.
• Health Disparities: Identify disparities in suicide rates among different demographic segments.

Policy Making:

• Intervention Development: Inform the creation of targeted interventions for high-risk groups.
• Resource Allocation: Aid in the effective allocation of resources to areas with higher suicide rates.
• Policy Evaluation: Evaluate the effectiveness of past policies and programs aimed at reducing suicide rates.

Public Health Initiatives:

• Awareness Campaigns: Develop awareness campaigns tailored to specific demographic groups.
• Prevention Programs: Design and implement suicide prevention programs based on demographic data.
• Community Outreach: Facilitate community outreach efforts by identifying high-risk areas.

Data Maintenance:

Updates:

• Periodic Updates: The dataset is periodically updated to incorporate the latest available data.
• Version Control: Maintains previous versions for reference and longitudinal studies.

Quality Assurance:

• Data Validation: Ensures data accuracy through rigorous validation processes.
• Consistency Checks: Regular consistency checks to maintain data integrity.

Additional Notes:

• For detailed definitions and explanations of measures, refer to the PDF or Excel version of this table in the HUS 2019 Data Finder.
• Numerator data is derived from NVSS annual public-use Mortality Files, while denominator data comes from U.S. Census Bureau national population estimates.
• The dataset also includes historical data, providing context and continuity for contemporary analysis.

Columns:

United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Education & Health Services data was reported at -23.000 Unit th in Jun 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 15.000 Unit th for May 2018. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Education & Health Services data is updated monthly, averaging 11.000 Unit th from Apr 2003 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 183 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 54.000 Unit th in Oct 2017 and a record low of -23.000 Unit th in Jun 2018. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Education & Health Services data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G042: Current Employment Statistics: Birth-Death Adjustment.

Updates

• Notice of data discontinuation: Since the start of the pandemic, AP has reported case and death counts from data provided by Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins University has announced that they will stop their daily data collection efforts after March 10. As Johns Hopkins stops providing data, the AP will also stop collecting daily numbers for COVID cases and deaths. The HHS and CDC now collect and visualize key metrics for the pandemic. AP advises using those resources when reporting on the pandemic going forward.

  • CDC Weekly case and death counts (national and state level)
  • CDC County level cases and deaths
  • HHS New hospital admissions
  • CDC NowCast COVID variant proportions (national and regional level)

• April 9, 2020

  • The population estimate data for New York County, NY has been updated to include all five New York City counties (Kings County, Queens County, Bronx County, Richmond County and New York County). This has been done to match the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 data, which aggregates counts for the five New York City counties to New York County.

• April 20, 2020

  • Johns Hopkins death totals in the US now include confirmed and probable deaths in accordance with CDC guidelines as of April 14. One significant result of this change was an increase of more than 3,700 deaths in the New York City count. This change will likely result in increases for death counts elsewhere as well. The AP does not alter the Johns Hopkins source data, so probable deaths are included in this dataset as well.

• April 29, 2020

  • The AP is now providing timeseries data for counts of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The raw counts are provided here unaltered, along with a population column with Census ACS-5 estimates and calculated daily case and death rates per 100,000 people. Please read the updated caveats section for more information.

• September 1st, 2020

  • Johns Hopkins is now providing counts for the five New York City counties individually.

• February 12, 2021

  • The Ohio Department of Health recently announced that as many as 4,000 COVID-19 deaths may have been underreported through the state’s reporting system, and that the "daily reported death counts will be high for a two to three-day period."
  • Because deaths data will be anomalous for consecutive days, we have chosen to freeze Ohio's rolling average for daily deaths at the last valid measure until Johns Hopkins is able to back-distribute the data. The raw daily death counts, as reported by Johns Hopkins and including the backlogged death data, will still be present in the new_deaths column.

• February 16, 2021

  - Johns Hopkins has reconciled Ohio's historical deaths data with the state.

  Overview

The AP is using data collected by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering as our source for outbreak caseloads and death counts for the United States and globally.

The Hopkins data is available at the county level in the United States. The AP has paired this data with population figures and county rural/urban designations, and has calculated caseload and death rates per 100,000 people. Be aware that caseloads may reflect the availability of tests -- and the ability to turn around test results quickly -- rather than actual disease spread or true infection rates.

This data is from the Hopkins dashboard that is updated regularly throughout the day. Like all organizations dealing with data, Hopkins is constantly refining and cleaning up their feed, so there may be brief moments where data does not appear correctly. At this link, you’ll find the Hopkins daily data reports, and a clean version of their feed.

The AP is updating this dataset hourly at 45 minutes past the hour.

To learn more about AP's data journalism capabilities for publishers, corporations and financial institutions, go here or email kromano@ap.org.

Queries

Use AP's queries to filter the data or to join to other datasets we've made available to help cover the coronavirus pandemic

• Filter cases by state here

• Rank states by their status as current hotspots. Calculates the 7-day rolling average of new cases per capita in each state: https://data.world/associatedpress/johns-hopkins-coronavirus-case-tracker/workspace/query?queryid=481e82a4-1b2f-41c2-9ea1-d91aa4b3b1ac

• Find recent hotspots within your state by running a query to calculate the 7-day rolling average of new cases by capita in each county: https://data.world/associatedpress/johns-hopkins-coronavirus-case-tracker/workspace/query?queryid=b566f1db-3231-40fe-8099-311909b7b687&showTemplatePreview=true

• Join county-level case data to an earlier dataset released by AP on local hospital capacity here. To find out more about the hospital capacity dataset, see the full details.

• Pull the 100 counties with the highest per-capita confirmed cases here

• Rank all the counties by the highest per-capita rate of new cases in the past 7 days here. Be aware that because this ranks per-capita caseloads, very small counties may rise to the very top, so take into account raw caseload figures as well.

Interactive

The AP has designed an interactive map to track COVID-19 cases reported by Johns Hopkins.

@(https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nRyaf/15/)

Interactive Embed Code

<iframe title="USA counties (2018) choropleth map Mapping COVID-19 cases by county" aria-describedby="" id="datawrapper-chart-nRyaf" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nRyaf/10/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important;" height="400"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() {'use strict';window.addEventListener('message', function(event) {if (typeof event.data['datawrapper-height'] !== 'undefined') {for (var chartId in event.data['datawrapper-height']) {var iframe = document.getElementById('datawrapper-chart-' + chartId) || document.querySelector("iframe[src*='" + chartId + "']");if (!iframe) {continue;}iframe.style.height = event.data['datawrapper-height'][chartId] + 'px';}}});})();</script>

Caveats

• This data represents the number of cases and deaths reported by each state and has been collected by Johns Hopkins from a number of sources cited on their website.
• In some cases, deaths or cases of people who've crossed state lines -- either to receive treatment or because they became sick and couldn't return home while traveling -- are reported in a state they aren't currently in, because of state reporting rules.
• In some states, there are a number of cases not assigned to a specific county -- for those cases, the county name is "unassigned to a single county"
• This data should be credited to Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 tracking project. The AP is simply making it available here for ease of use for reporters and members.
• Caseloads may reflect the availability of tests -- and the ability to turn around test results quickly -- rather than actual disease spread or true infection rates.
• Population estimates at the county level are drawn from 2014-18 5-year estimates from the American Community Survey.
• The Urban/Rural classification scheme is from the Center for Disease Control and Preventions's National Center for Health Statistics. It puts each county into one of six categories -- from Large Central Metro to Non-Core -- according to population and other characteristics. More details about the classifications can be found here.

Johns Hopkins timeseries data - Johns Hopkins pulls data regularly to update their dashboard. Once a day, around 8pm EDT, Johns Hopkins adds the counts for all areas they cover to the timeseries file. These counts are snapshots of the latest cumulative counts provided by the source on that day. This can lead to inconsistencies if a source updates their historical data for accuracy, either increasing or decreasing the latest cumulative count. - Johns Hopkins periodically edits their historical timeseries data for accuracy. They provide a file documenting all errors in their timeseries files that they have identified and fixed here

Attribution

This data should be credited to Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracking project

This dataset represents preliminary estimates of cumulative U.S. COVID-19 disease burden for the 2024-2025 period, including illnesses, outpatient visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. The weekly COVID-19-associated burden estimates are preliminary and based on continuously collected surveillance data from patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. The data come from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET), a surveillance platform that captures data from hospitals that serve about 10% of the U.S. population. Each week CDC estimates a range (i.e., lower estimate and an upper estimate) of COVID-19 -associated burden that have occurred since October 1, 2024.

Note: Data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available. Rates for recent COVID-19-associated hospital admissions are subject to reporting delays; as new data are received each week, previous rates are updated accordingly.

References

1. Reed C, Chaves SS, Daily Kirley P, et al. Estimating influenza disease burden from population-based surveillance data in the United States. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0118369. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118369 
2. Rolfes, MA, Foppa, IM, Garg, S, et al. Annual estimates of the burden of seasonal influenza in the United States: A tool for strengthening influenza surveillance and preparedness. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2018; 12: 132– 137. https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.12486
3. Tokars JI, Rolfes MA, Foppa IM, Reed C. An evaluation and update of methods for estimating the number of influenza cases averted by vaccination in the United States. Vaccine. 2018;36(48):7331-7337. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.10.026 
4. Collier SA, Deng L, Adam EA, Benedict KM, Beshearse EM, Blackstock AJ, Bruce BB, Derado G, Edens C, Fullerton KE, Gargano JW, Geissler AL, Hall AJ, Havelaar AH, Hill VR, Hoekstra RM, Reddy SC, Scallan E, Stokes EK, Yoder JS, Beach MJ. Estimate of Burden and Direct Healthcare Cost of Infectious Waterborne Disease in the United States. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Jan;27(1):140-149. doi: 10.3201/eid2701.190676. PMID: 33350905; PMCID: PMC7774540.
5. Reed C, Kim IK, Singleton JA,  et al. Estimated influenza illnesses and hospitalizations averted by vaccination–United States, 2013-14 influenza season. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014 Dec 12;63(49):1151-4. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6349a2.htm 
6. Reed C, Angulo FJ, Swerdlow DL, et al. Estimates of the Prevalence of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, United States, April–July 2009. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009;15(12):2004-2007. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1512.091413  
7. Devine O, Pham H, Gunnels B, et al. Extrapolating Sentinel Surveillance Information to Estimate National COVID-19 Hospital Admission Rates: A Bayesian Modeling Approach. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/irv.70026. Volume18, Issue10. October 2024.
8. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/php/covid-net/index.html">COVID-NET | COVID-19 | CDC 
9. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/clinical-care/systematic-review-process.html 
10. https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/1/3/pgac079/6604394?login=false">Excess natural-cause deaths in California by cause and setting: March 2020 through February 2021 | PNAS Nexus | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
11. Kruschke, J. K. 2011. Doing Bayesian data analysis: a tutorial with R and BUGS. Elsevier, Amsterdam, Section 3.3.5.

Number of deaths and mortality rates, by age group, sex, and place of residence, 1991 to most recent year.

United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Estimates: Total Nonfarm data was reported at 104.000 Unit th in Jun 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 215.000 Unit th for May 2018. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Estimates: Total Nonfarm data is updated monthly, averaging 92.000 Unit th from Apr 2003 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 183 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 317.000 Unit th in Apr 2007 and a record low of -427.000 Unit th in Jan 2010. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Estimates: Total Nonfarm data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G042: Current Employment Statistics: Birth-Death Adjustment.

Data on death rates for suicide, by selected population characteristics. Please refer to the PDF or Excel version of this table in the HUS 2019 Data Finder (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2019.htm) for critical information about measures, definitions, and changes over time. SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System (NVSS); Grove RD, Hetzel AM. Vital statistics rates in the United States, 1940–1960. National Center for Health Statistics. 1968; numerator data from NVSS annual public-use Mortality Files; denominator data from U.S. Census Bureau national population estimates; and Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD, Arias E, Tejada-Vera B. Deaths: Final data for 2018. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 69 no 13. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2021. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/nvsr.htm. For more information on the National Vital Statistics System, see the corresponding Appendix entry at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus19-appendix-508.pdf.

United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Information data was reported at -1.000 Unit th in Jun 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5.000 Unit th for May 2018. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Information data is updated monthly, averaging 2.000 Unit th from Apr 2003 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 183 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.000 Unit th in Apr 2005 and a record low of -20.000 Unit th in Jan 2008. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Information data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G042: Current Employment Statistics: Birth-Death Adjustment.

Number and percentage of deaths, by month and place of residence, 1991 to most recent year.

United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Professional & Business Svcs data was reported at 91.000 Unit th in Oct 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of -23.000 Unit th for Sep 2018. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Professional & Business Svcs data is updated monthly, averaging 19.000 Unit th from Apr 2003 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 187 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 95.000 Unit th in Apr 2018 and a record low of -116.000 Unit th in Jan 2010. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Professional & Business Svcs data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G042: Current Employment Statistics: Birth-Death Adjustment.

In the United States in 2021, the death rate was highest among those aged 85 and over, with about 17,190.5 men and 14,914.5 women per 100,000 of the population passing away. For all ages, the death rate was at 1,118.2 per 100,000 of the population for males, and 970.8 per 100,000 of the population for women. The death rate Death rates generally are counted as the number of deaths per 1,000 or 100,000 of the population and include both deaths of natural and unnatural causes. The death rate in the United States had pretty much held steady since 1990 until it started to increase over the last decade, with the highest death rates recorded in recent years. While the birth rate in the United States has been decreasing, it is still currently higher than the death rate. Causes of death There are a myriad number of causes of death in the United States, but the most recent data shows the top three leading causes of death to be heart disease, cancers, and accidents. Heart disease was also the leading cause of death worldwide.

United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Leisure & Hospitality data was reported at 89.000 Unit th in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 86.000 Unit th for May 2018. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Leisure & Hospitality data is updated monthly, averaging 28.000 Unit th from Apr 2003 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 183 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 95.000 Unit th in Apr 2007 and a record low of -43.000 Unit th in Oct 2012. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Leisure & Hospitality data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G042: Current Employment Statistics: Birth-Death Adjustment.

United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Construction data was reported at 22.000 Unit th in Jun 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 39.000 Unit th for May 2018. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Construction data is updated monthly, averaging 10.000 Unit th from Apr 2003 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 183 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 49.000 Unit th in Apr 2007 and a record low of -97.000 Unit th in Jan 2010. United States Net Birth & Death Adj: Prelim Est: Construction data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G042: Current Employment Statistics: Birth-Death Adjustment.