Approximately 3.09 million people died in the United States in 2023, the most recent year with finalized data from the CDC. That works out to roughly 8,468 deaths every day, or about 353 every hour. While that number sounds staggering, it actually represents a decline from the pandemic peak years, and death rates across most age groups continue to trend downward.
What the Numbers Look Like Right Now
The 2023 total of 3,090,964 deaths translates to a crude death rate of about 923 per 100,000 people. Preliminary data for 2024 shows that rate dipping slightly lower, to around 912 per 100,000 for the 12-month period. For context, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, annual deaths surged well above 3.3 million, making the current figures a meaningful step back toward pre-pandemic norms.
Death rates fell across every older age group between 2023 and 2024. The rate dropped 2% for people aged 65 to 74, about 1.9% for those 75 to 84, and 3.2% for people 85 and older. Life expectancy at age 65 also ticked up to 19.7 years in 2024, gaining about two months compared to the prior year.
The Leading Causes of Death
Heart disease and cancer together account for roughly 1.3 million deaths per year, making them responsible for more than 40% of all deaths in the country. After that, the numbers drop significantly but the causes remain familiar:
- Heart disease: 680,981
- Cancer: 613,352
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 222,698
- Stroke: 162,639
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 145,357
- Alzheimer’s disease: 114,034
- Diabetes: 95,190
- Kidney disease: 55,253
- Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis: 52,222
- COVID-19: 49,932
COVID-19 still makes the top 10 but has fallen dramatically from its 2021 peak, when it was the third leading cause of death. Unintentional injuries, the third leading cause overall, include a striking subcategory: drug overdoses killed 97,231 people in 2023 alone, making them the single largest driver of accidental death. Suicide claimed another 27,300 lives that year.
Who Dies and at What Age
As you’d expect, the vast majority of deaths occur in older adults. In 2024, people aged 65 and older accounted for roughly 2.34 million deaths, or about three-quarters of the total. The breakdown among older age groups is revealing: 628,416 deaths among those 65 to 74, 822,944 among those 75 to 84, and 890,240 among people 85 and older. That oldest group, despite being the smallest in population, had the highest death count of any age bracket.
At the other end of the spectrum, about 20,050 infants died in 2024 before reaching their first birthday. The infant mortality rate held steady at roughly 553 per 100,000 live births, essentially unchanged from the prior year. Maternal mortality, while far less common, remains a concern: 18.6 mothers died per 100,000 live births in 2023. That rate varies sharply by race. Black women faced a maternal mortality rate of 50.3 per 100,000 live births, more than three times the rate for White women (14.5) and four times the rate for Hispanic women (12.4).
When Deaths Peak During the Year
Not every month is equal. Deaths in the U.S. consistently peak during the cold winter months, driven largely by respiratory infections, heart attacks, and strokes that spike in cold weather. The lowest point typically falls in August, a pattern that has held for roughly two out of every three years studied. The quarterly CDC data reflects this clearly: the crude death rate for the first quarter of 2025 (winter months) was 992.7 per 100,000, compared to just 870.8 for the third quarter of 2024 (summer months). That seasonal swing means tens of thousands more people die in January, February, and March than in the warmest months.
How Death Rates Vary by State
Where you live in the U.S. has a measurable connection to mortality. West Virginia has the highest age-adjusted death rate in the country at 1,001.2 per 100,000 people. Mississippi (992.0), Kentucky (968.7), Tennessee (946.9), and Oklahoma (943.5) round out the top five. These states share common challenges: higher rates of smoking, obesity, opioid use, and limited access to healthcare.
On the other end, Hawaii has the lowest age-adjusted death rate at 586.7 per 100,000. New York (622.2), New Jersey (635.7), California (645.6), and Connecticut (661.3) also rank among the lowest. The gap between the highest and lowest states is enormous. Someone living in West Virginia faces an age-adjusted death rate nearly 71% higher than someone in Hawaii. Age-adjusted rates remove the effect of having an older or younger population, so these differences reflect genuine disparities in health outcomes rather than just demographics.
Crude death rates, which don’t adjust for age, tell a slightly different story. Florida’s crude rate of 1,012.5 per 100,000 is high not because Floridians are less healthy but because the state has a large retiree population. Maine, similarly, has a crude rate of 1,200.1 but a much more moderate age-adjusted rate of 808.3. Utah, with its younger-than-average population, has the lowest crude death rate in the nation at 622.5 per 100,000.