U.S. Heart Disease Deaths by Region

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2019, it accounted for more than 659,000 deaths, or about 23% of all deaths in the U.S. that year.  The incidence of death by heart disease dropped considerably between 1999 and 2019, thanks to improved medical knowledge and know-how.  From 259.9 deaths per 100,000 population in 1999, by 2019 the rate had dropped to 200.8 deaths per 100,000 population.  That said, the heart disease death rate nationally has been creeping higher during the past decade.  On a regional basis, similar trends in the heart disease death rate are evident.   Further examination of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, yielded the following details about U.S. heart disease deaths by region (to see state level data, follow the "Area" links in the table below):

Area/Deaths	1999	2009	2019
Far West	97,912	83,793	91,594
Great Lakes	124,760	97,826	107,193
Great Plains	51,535	39,872	43,892
Mid-East	139,930	111,960	109,831
New England	35,517	27,951	28,534
Rocky Mountain	14,796	14,100	18,062
Southeast	191,809	163,145	186,004
Southwest	68,933	60,766	73,931
Total	725,192	599,413	659,041
Area/Death Rate*	1999	2009	2019
Far West	210.5	160.6	161.9
Great Lakes	277.4	211.0	228.5
Great Plains	269.4	195.5	204.8
Mid-East	303.5	233.5	224.8
New England	256.7	194.1	192.2
Rocky Mountain	162.7	130.6	145.7
Southeast	279.7	209.7	219.1
Southwest	223.6	164.7	174.7
Total	259.9	195.4	200.8

(*) number of heart disease 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 5, 2021