Cancer Deaths in the Great Lakes Region

The second leading cause of death in America, cancer accounted for over 599,000 deaths in 2019, or 21% of all deaths in the United States that year.  Thanks to improvements in medical knowledge, the cancer death rate dropped modestly from its 1999 level of 197.0 deaths per 100,000 population to 182.7 deaths per 100,000 population by 2019.  The Great Lakes region also witnessed a drop in its cancer death rate during this period, but to a lesser degree than the nation as a whole.  Already a region with a cancer death rate 5.7% higher the national average in 1999, by 2019 its cancer death rate of 202.6 deaths per 100,000 population was 10.9% above the national average.  As of 2019, the Great Lakes region had the highest cancer death rate of any region of the country.  A deeper examination of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, produced the following details about cancer deaths in the Great Lakes region:

Cancer Deaths in the Great Lakes Region

Area/Deaths	1999	2009	2019
IL	25,024	24,185	23,902
IN	12,898	13,093	13,515
MI	19,744	20,257	20,923
OH	25,233	25,149	25,170
WI	10,755	10,866	11,505
Region	93,654	93,550	95,015
U.S.	549,838	567,628	599,601
Area/Death Rate*	1999	2009	2019
IL	202.5	189.0	188.6
IN	213.4	202.7	200.8
MI	199.5	204.6	209.5
OH	222.6	218.1	215.3
WI	201.7	191.7	197.6
Region	208.3	201.8	202.6
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