Health covers both the state of physical, mental, and social well-being of Americans, as well as access to healthcare. Healthcare accounts for nearly 20% of the US economy.
Latest update on January 11, 2023
There are many ways to measure the state of health and healthcare in the US: life expectancy, top causes of death, percent of Americans with health insurance, health risk factors, and more. This page showcases some of these measures to answer fundamental questions and directs you to data to develop an understanding of how healthy Americans are.
How has the death rate changed in the US?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the primary federal agency tracking deaths nationwide. It maintains the National Vital Statistics System, which gathers death information from every state. The death rate, also known as mortality rate, is determined using this data in combination with population data.
A simple per capita calculation — called the crude death rate — doesn't account for differences of population over time, geography, or demographic. For example, an area where more than 50% of the population is over 65 is expected to have a higher crude death rate than a place where 10% of the population is 65 or older. Age-adjusted death rates allow for comparison between two populations with different age makeups.
Despite these adjustments, there are differences in age-adjusted death rates by geography. Data from 2022, the latest year available, is provisional and subject to change.