States With The Highest Death Rates

The United States, a land of economic opportunities and one of the most developed countries globally with modernized technology. This is also one of the world’s leading consumers, with a population of 331 million, owing to enormous household spending with a GDP of $20 trillion. This data implies that life in the US is one of the best globally, but there are drawbacks. 

States With The Highest And Lowest Death Tolls

According to CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), the generated list of leading causes of death in American citizens suggests that heart diseases top the list. Followed by cancer, while the cause of death due to suicide lies is at the bottom. Accidents, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, influenza, pneumonia, and nephritis (kidney disease) are also on the list. The state-wide death toll varies, as factors like environment, consumption of healthy food, the risk to natural hazards, population, and many more. CDC’s 2017 data suggest that the states with the highest death tolls are as follows:

1. Alabama 
2. Kentucky 
3. Mississippi 
4. Oklahoma 
5. West Virginia 

While the states with the least death tolls are:

1. California 
2. Connecticut 
3. Hawaii 
4. Minnesota 
5. New York 

The data included age groups between 1 and 85 years.  

Changes In The Death Rate

The pandemic has put the United States in a devastating course, with death tolls passing the 20 million mark, which is higher than the number of deaths in WW1. To prevent the number of deaths in the country, CDC is one of the cornerstones and a savior to the United States, being the Department of Health and Human Services’ active component. South Dakota, one of the country’s sparsely populated states, recorded a death rate of 919.4, a hundred higher than Alabama. 

The data, therefore, suggest that the majority of the population, even though it is sparsely populated, CDC have recorded higher deaths. The majority of causes of death are heart disease, cancer with the addition of COVID-19 in 2019. South Carolina poverty is directly related to unhealthy food choices, which implies an increased death rate of 984.0. Out of the 100 million population in North Carolina, the death rate is 906.8, considerably better than South Carolina, with 58 million people. Thus, a higher death rate and lower population need to be considered when classifying the states’ highest and lowest deaths. 

Varying death rates state-wide have been linked to access to healthy food, tobacco consumption, recreational centers, and people’s participation and healthcare facilities. Hence, the higher data rates in individual states didn’t come as a surprise to the executive director of the American Public Health Association’s Dr. Georges Benjamin. Certain diseases of lower death rate states were deadlier than the higher death rate states. For instance, the number of deaths caused by HIV is higher in the District of Columbia, even though the death rate is far lower, around 715.4, while death by HIV is lower in North Dakota even though the death rate is higher as per 2017 CDC data.