Cancer Deaths in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for over 599,000 deaths in 2019. Cancer accounted for about 21% of all U.S. deaths that year.  Thanks to advances in medical knowledge, in the twenty year period from 1999 to 2019 the U.S. cancer death rate declined modestly, from 197.0 deaths per 100,000 population in 1999 to 182.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 2019.  This 7.3% decline in the national cancer death rate per 100,000 population from 1999 to 2019 was bested in the Mid-Eastern U.S. region.  This region, which encompasses five states and the District of Columbia, experienced a 13.6% drop in its cancer death rate per 100,000 population during the same twenty year period.  Even so, the Mid-Eastern U.S. remains a region where the cancer death rate runs slightly higher than the national rate.  A closer review of data from the National Center for Health Statistics reveals the following about the cancer death rate and cancer deaths in the Mid-Eastern U.S.:

Cancer Deaths in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

Area/Deaths	1999	2009	2019
DE	1,737	1,813	2,074
DC	1,340	1,131	1,025
MD	10,143	10,412	10,743
NJ	18,178	16,541	15,698
NY	37,609	35,216	33,655
PA	30,312	28,881	27,746
Region	99,319	93,994	90,941
U.S.	549,838	567,628	599,601
Area/Death Rate*	1999	2009	2019
DE	224.1	203.3	213.0
DC	235.0	191.0	145.2
MD	193.0	181.7	177.7
NJ	217.5	188.9	176.7
NY	199.2	182.4	173.0
PA	247.2	228.0	216.7
Region	215.4	196.1	186.1
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