Cancer Deaths in the Great Plains Region

Cancer is the number two cause of death in America, accounting for over 599,000 deaths in 2019, or about 21% of all deaths in the United States that year.  Thanks to improvements in medical knowledge, the cancer death rate has dropped modestly over the past twenty years. Whereas in 1999 the U.S. recorded 197.0 cancer deaths per 100,000 population, by 2019 the cancer death rate had dropped to 182.7 deaths per 100,000 population.  The national trend in cancer deaths is also seen in the seven-state Great Plains region of the country.  Although a region where the cancer death rate historically runs above the national average, the Great Plains region also saw its cancer death rate drop between 1999 and 2019, from 204.7 deaths per 100,000 population to 193.2 deaths per 100,000 population.  A closer review of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, reveals the following about cancer deaths in the Great Plains region of the country:

Cancer Deaths in the Great Plains Region

Area/Deaths	1999	2009	2019
IA	6,346	6,249	6,335
KS	5,334	5,319	5,619
MN	8,892	9,580	10,042
MO	12,186	12,472	12,873
NE	3,410	3,336	3,482
ND	1,366	1,243	1,316
SD	1,632	1,503	1,737
Region	39,166	39,702	41,404
U.S.	549,838	567,628	599,601
Area/Death Rate*	1999	2009	2019
IA	217.5	206.0	200.8
KS	199.2	187.8	192.9
MN	182.5	181.4	178.1
MO	219.1	209.2	209.7
NE	200.0	184.0	180.0
ND	212.0	186.9	172.7
SD	217.5	186.2	196.3
Region	204.7	194.7	193.2
U.S.	197.0	185.0	182.7

(*) number of cancer deaths per 100,000 population

Source: CDC Wonder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2019 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2020. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2019, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed on June 12, 2021