This dataset of U.S. mortality trends since 1900 highlights the differences in age-adjusted death rates and life expectancy at birth by race and sex. Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000) after 1998 are calculated based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates for 2011–2017 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for noncensus years between 2000 and 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Data on age-adjusted death rates prior to 1999 are taken from historical data (see References below). Life expectancy data are available up to 2017. Due to changes in categories of race used in publications, data are not available for the black population consistently before 1968, and not at all before 1960. More information on historical data on age-adjusted death rates is available at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/hist293.htm. SOURCES CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, historical data, 1900-1998 (see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm); CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov). REFERENCES National Center for Health Statistics, Data Warehouse. Comparability of cause-of-death between ICD revisions. 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/comparability_icd.htm. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf. Arias E, Xu JQ. United States life tables, 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf. National Center for Health Statistics. Historical Data, 1900-1998. 2009. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm.

Every year the CDC releases the country’s most detailed report on death in the United States under the National Vital Statistics Systems. This mortality dataset is a record of every death in the country for 2005 through 2015, including detailed information about causes of death and the demographic background of the deceased.

It's been said that "statistics are human beings with the tears wiped off." This is especially true with this dataset. Each death record represents somebody's loved one, often connected with a lifetime of memories and sometimes tragically too short.

Putting the sensitive nature of the topic aside, analyzing mortality data is essential to understanding the complex circumstances of death across the country. The US Government uses this data to determine life expectancy and understand how death in the U.S. differs from the rest of the world. Whether you’re looking for macro trends or analyzing unique circumstances, we challenge you to use this dataset to find your own answers to one of life’s great mysteries.

Overview

This dataset is a collection of CSV files each containing one year's worth of data and paired JSON files containing the code mappings, plus an ICD 10 code set. The CSVs were reformatted from their original fixed-width file formats using information extracted from the CDC's PDF manuals using this script. Please note that this process may have introduced errors as the text extracted from the pdf is not a perfect match. If you have any questions or find errors in the preparation process, please leave a note in the forums. We hope to publish additional years of data using this method soon.

A more detailed overview of the data can be found here. You'll find that the fields are consistent within this time window, but some of data codes change every few years. For example, the 113_cause_recode entry 069 only covers ICD codes (I10,I12) in 2005, but by 2015 it covers (I10,I12,I15). When I post data from years prior to 2005, expect some of the fields themselves to change as well.

All data comes from the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Systems, with the exception of the Icd10Code, which are sourced from the World Health Organization.

Project ideas

• The CDC's mortality data was the basis of a widely publicized paper, by Anne Case and Nobel prize winner Angus Deaton, arguing that middle-aged whites are dying at elevated rates. One of the criticisms against the paper is that it failed to properly account for the exact ages within the broad bins available through the CDC's WONDER tool. What do these results look like with exact/not-binned age data?
• Similarly, how sensitive are the mortality trends being discussed in the news to the choice of bin-widths?
• As noted above, the data preparation process could have introduced errors. Can you find any discrepancies compared to the aggregate metrics on WONDER? If so, please let me know in the forums!
• WONDER is cited in numerous economics, sociology, and public health research papers. Can you find any papers whose conclusions would be altered if they used the exact data available here rather than binned data from Wonder?

Differences from the first version of the dataset

• This version of the dataset was prepared in a completely different many. This has allowed us to provide a much larger volume of data and ensure that codes are available for every field.
• We've replaced the batch of sql files with a single JSON per year. Kaggle's platform currently offer's better support for JSON files, and this keeps the number of files manageable.
• A tutorial kernel providing a quick introduction to the new format is available here.
• Lastly, I apologize if the transition has interrupted anyone's work! If need be, you can still download v1.

This collection contains information on county-level vital events that occurred in the United States from 1915-2007. When sources allow, data are disaggregated by county of occurrence, county of residence, and race. The data include information on vital events such as the number of infant deaths, births to unmarried women, births in the presence of hospital attendants, and infant birth weight.

United States US: Mortality Rate: Adult: Male: per 1000 Male Adults data was reported at 133.993 Ratio in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 131.567 Ratio for 2014. United States US: Mortality Rate: Adult: Male: per 1000 Male Adults data is updated yearly, averaging 176.083 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 240.957 Ratio in 1968 and a record low of 131.037 Ratio in 2013. United States US: Mortality Rate: Adult: Male: per 1000 Male Adults data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Adult mortality rate, male, is the probability of dying between the ages of 15 and 60--that is, the probability of a 15-year-old male dying before reaching age 60, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year between those ages.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) University of California, Berkeley, and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. The Human Mortality Database.; Weighted average;

2015 to 2017, 3-year average. Rates are age-standardized. County rates are spatially smoothed. The data can be viewed by sex and race/ethnicity. Data source: National Vital Statistics System. Additional data, maps, and methodology can be viewed on the Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease-and-stroke-data/index.html

2019 to 2021, 3-year average. Rates are age-standardized. County rates are spatially smoothed. The data can be viewed by sex and race/ethnicity. Data source: National Vital Statistics System. Additional data, maps, and methodology can be viewed on the Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease-stroke-atlas/about/index.html

In 1995-1996, the MacArthur Midlife Research Network carried out a national survey of over 7,000 Americans aged 25 to 74 (ICPSR 2760). The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors in understanding age-related differences in physical and mental health. With support from the National Institute on Aging, an initial follow-up of the original Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) samples was conducted in 2004 (MIDUS 2). The daily stress and cognitive functioning projects were repeated at MIDUS 2; in addition the protocol was expanded to include biomarkers and neuroscience. In 2005, a baseline sample of 592 African Americans from Milwaukee was added to MIDUS to examine health issues in minority populations. In 2013, a third wave (MIDUS 3) of survey data was collected on longitudinal participants. Data collection for this follow-up wave largely repeated baseline assessments (e.g., phone interview and extensive self-administered questionnaire), with additional questions in selected areas (e.g., economic recession experiences, optimism and coping, stressful life events, and caregiving). A third wave of cognitive functioning data and a second wave of the Milwaukee sample were also collected. Data collection for the daily diary, biomarkers, and neuroscience is ongoing. This dataset includes all known MIDUS decedents (N=2,533) from the Core National and Milwaukee samples as of December 2023.

This dataset of U.S. mortality trends since 1900 highlights trends in age-adjusted death rates for five selected major causes of death.

Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000) after 1998 are calculated based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates for 2011–2017 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for noncensus years between 2000 and 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Data on age-adjusted death rates prior to 1999 are taken from historical data (see References below).

Revisions to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) over time may result in discontinuities in cause-of-death trends.

SOURCES

CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, historical data, 1900-1998 (see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm); CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov).

REFERENCES

1. National Center for Health Statistics, Data Warehouse. Comparability of cause-of-death between ICD revisions. 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/comparability_icd.htm.

2. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm.

3. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf.

4. Arias E, Xu JQ. United States life tables, 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf.

5. National Center for Health Statistics. Historical Data, 1900-1998. 2009. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm.

This data package contains data on public health indicators, mortality and morbidity. Specifically this accelerator contains mortality and morbidity rates for groups of diseases in the United States by state and county from 1980 to 2014.

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.

TABLE III. Deaths in 122 U.S. cities – 2016. 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System — Each week, the vital statistics offices of 122 cities across the United States report the total number of death certificates processed and the number of those for which pneumonia or influenza was listed as the underlying or contributing cause of death by age group (Under 28 days, 28 days –1 year, 1-14 years, 15-24 years, 25-44 years, 45-64 years, 65-74 years, 75-84 years, and ≥ 85 years).

FOOTNOTE: U: Unavailable. —: No reported cases. * Mortality data in this table are voluntarily reported from 122 cities in the United States, most of which have populations of 100,000 or more. A death is reported by the place of its occurrence and by the week that the death certificate was filed. Fetal deaths are not included.

† Pneumonia and influenza.

§ Total includes unknown ages.

2018 to 2020, 3-year average. Rates are age-standardized. County rates are spatially smoothed. The data can be viewed by sex and race/ethnicity. Data source: National Vital Statistics System. Additional data, maps, and methodology can be viewed on the Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease-stroke-atlas/about/index.html

This is a database (parquet format) containing publicly available multiple cause mortality data from the US (CDC/NCHS) for 2014-2022. Not all variables are included on this export. Please see below for restrictions on the use of these data imposed by NCHS. You can use the arrow package in R to open the file. See here for example analysis; https://github.com/DanWeinberger/pneumococcal_mortality/blob/main/analysis_nongeo.Rmd . For instance, save this file in a folder called "parquet3":

library(arrow)

library(dplyr)

pneumo.deaths.in <- open_dataset("R:/parquet3", format = "parquet") %>% #open the dataset
filter(grepl("J13|A39|J181|A403|B953|G001", all_icd)) %>% #filter to records that have the selected ICD codes
collect() #call the dataset into memory. Note you should do any operations you canbefore calling 'collect()" due to memory issues

The variables included are named: (see full dictionary:https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_public_use_data.htm)

year: Calendar year of death

month: Calendar month of death

age_detail_number: number indicating year or part of year; can't be interpreted itself here. see agey variable instead

sex: M/F

place_of_death:

Place of Death and Decedent’s Status
Place of Death and Decedent’s Status
1 ... Hospital, Clinic or Medical Center
- Inpatient
2 ... Hospital, Clinic or Medical Center
- Outpatient or admitted to Emergency Room
3 ... Hospital, Clinic or Medical Center
- Dead on Arrival
4 ... Decedent’s home
5 ... Hospice facility
6 ... Nursing home/long term care
7 ... Other
9 ... Place of death unknown

all_icd: Cause of death coded as ICD10 codes. ICD1-ICD21 pasted into a single string, with separation of codes by an underscore

hisp_recode: 0=Non-Hispanic; 1=Hispanic; 999= Not specified

race_recode: race coding prior to 2018 (reconciled in race_recode_new)

race_recode_alt: race coding after 2018 (reconciled in race_recode_new)

race_recode_new:

1='White'

2= 'Black'

3='Hispanic'

4='American Indian'

5='Asian/Pacific Islanders'

agey:

age in years (or partial years for kids <12months)

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/restrictions.htm

Please Read Carefully Before Using NCHS Public Use Survey Data

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), conducts statistical and epidemiological activities under the authority granted by the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. § 242k). NCHS survey data are protected by Federal confidentiality laws including Section 308(d) Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 242m(d)] and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act or CIPSEA [Pub. L. No. 115-435, 132 Stat. 5529 § 302]. These confidentiality laws state the data collected by NCHS may be used only for statistical reporting and analysis. Any effort to determine the identity of individuals and establishments violates the assurances of confidentiality provided by federal law.

Terms and Conditions

NCHS does all it can to assure that the identity of individuals and establishments cannot be disclosed. All direct identifiers, as well as any characteristics that might lead to identification, are omitted from the dataset. Any intentional identification or disclosure of an individual or establishment violates the assurances of confidentiality given to the providers of the information. Therefore, users will:

1. Use the data in this dataset for statistical reporting and analysis only.

1. Make no attempt to learn the identity of any person or establishment included in these data.

1. Not link this dataset with individually identifiable data from other NCHS or non-NCHS datasets.

1. Not engage in any efforts to assess disclosure methodologies applied to protect individuals and establishments or any research on methods of re-identification of individuals and establishments.

By using these data you signify your agreement to comply with the above-stated statutorily based requirements.

Sanctions for Violating NCHS Data Use Agreement

Willfully disclosing any information that could identify a person or establishment in any manner to a person or agency not entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a class E felony and imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than $250,000, or both.

This dataset of U.S. mortality trends since 1900 highlights childhood mortality rates by age group for age at death.

Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000) after 1998 are calculated based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates for 2011–2017 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for noncensus years between 2000 and 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Data on age-adjusted death rates prior to 1999 are taken from historical data (see References below).

Age groups for childhood death rates are based on age at death.

SOURCES

CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, historical data, 1900-1998 (see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm); CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov).

REFERENCES

1. National Center for Health Statistics, Data Warehouse. Comparability of cause-of-death between ICD revisions. 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/comparability_icd.htm.

2. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm.

3. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf.

4. Arias E, Xu JQ. United States life tables, 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf.

5. National Center for Health Statistics. Historical Data, 1900-1998. 2009. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm.

United States US: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 7.200 Ratio in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 7.400 Ratio for 2015. United States US: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 8.000 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.500 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 7.200 Ratio in 2017. United States US: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, male is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn male baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to male age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates Developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted average; Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

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 US: Mortality Rate: Adult: Female: per 1000 Female Adults data was reported at 80.229 Ratio in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 79.191 Ratio for 2014. United States US: Mortality Rate: Adult: Female: per 1000 Female Adults data is updated yearly, averaging 94.263 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 130.823 Ratio in 1968 and a record low of 77.137 Ratio in 2010. United States US: Mortality Rate: Adult: Female: per 1000 Female Adults data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Adult mortality rate, female, is the probability of dying between the ages of 15 and 60--that is, the probability of a 15-year-old female dying before reaching age 60, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year between those ages.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) University of California, Berkeley, and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. The Human Mortality Database.; Weighted average;

The dataset contains the life expectancy of US population across all ages from 2000 to 2015. Data is based on official estimates of life expectancy. The age pattern of mortality is based on life tables from the Human Mortality Database.

UNICEF's country profile for United States, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.

In 2023, about **** million deaths were reported in the United States. This figure is an increase from **** million deaths reported in 1990, and from **** in 2019. This sudden increase can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.