Approximately 3.09 million people died in the United States in 2023, the most recent year with complete data from the CDC. That works out to roughly 8,468 deaths every single day. In 2024, preliminary figures show a similar total of about 3.07 million deaths, with the age-adjusted death rate dropping nearly 4% compared to the year before.
Leading Causes of Death
Heart disease and cancer together account for roughly 1.3 million deaths per year, far outpacing every other cause. Heart disease alone kills about 683,000 Americans annually, while cancer claims around 620,000. After those two, the numbers drop significantly but remain substantial:
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 197,449
- Stroke: 166,852
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 145,643
- Alzheimer’s disease: 116,022
- Diabetes: 94,445
- Kidney disease: 55,081
- Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis: 52,274
- Suicide: 48,824
These ten causes account for the vast majority of deaths. The rest are spread across hundreds of other conditions, from infections to rare genetic disorders.
Accidents and External Causes
The “accidents” category deserves a closer look because it covers very different types of death. Unintentional poisoning, which primarily means drug overdoses, is the largest subcategory at 75,761 deaths per year. Falls kill about 48,308 people annually, mostly older adults. Motor vehicle crashes account for another 41,241 deaths.
Combined with suicide (48,824), these external causes represent a significant share of total mortality, and they disproportionately affect younger age groups. For Americans under 45, accidents are the single leading cause of death, not heart disease or cancer.
How Death Rates Are Changing
The raw number of deaths doesn’t tell the whole story because the U.S. population is both growing and aging. A more useful measure is the age-adjusted death rate, which accounts for shifts in the population’s age distribution. In 2024, that rate fell to 722.1 deaths per 100,000 people, down from 750.5 in 2023. That 3.8% decline suggests that Americans are, on average, living somewhat longer than they were just a year earlier.
Current life expectancy at birth is 79.0 years overall: 76.5 for men and 81.4 for women. That gap of nearly five years between sexes has persisted for decades and reflects higher rates of heart disease, accidents, and suicide among men.
Where You Live Matters
Death rates vary dramatically by state. Mississippi and West Virginia have the highest age-adjusted death rates in the country, both exceeding 1,079 per 100,000 people (averaged over 2019 to 2023). Kentucky follows closely at about 1,035 per 100,000. These states share common challenges: higher rates of obesity, smoking, poverty, and limited access to healthcare.
At the other end, Hawaii has the lowest death rate at roughly 586 per 100,000, nearly half the rate of Mississippi. California (688 per 100,000) and New York (682 per 100,000) also rank among the lowest. The difference between the healthiest and least healthy states is striking: living in Mississippi is associated with a death rate roughly 85% higher than living in Hawaii, after adjusting for age.
Infant Mortality
The U.S. records about 5.52 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births. While that number is low in historical terms, it remains higher than most other wealthy nations. Infant mortality is concentrated in the first month of life and is closely tied to premature birth, low birth weight, and birth defects. Rates also vary significantly by race, geography, and access to prenatal care.