Ten States with the Highest Drug Induced Death Rates

The U.S. recorded over 74,500 drug induced deaths in 2019.  About 95% of these fatalities were attributable to drug overdoses, both accidental and intentional.  At about 22.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 2019, the national drug induced death rate has more than tripled from its level in 1999.  A review of state-level data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics revealed the following details about the ten states with the highest drug induced death rates in 2019:

State/Deaths	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
WV	934	1,792,147	52.1
DE	442	973,764	45.4
DC	319	705,749	45.2
MD	2,421	6,045,680	40.0
OH	4,440	11,689,100	38.0
CT	1,263	3,565,287	35.4
PA	4,475	12,801,989	35.0
MA	2,312	6,892,503	33.5
KY	1,487	4,467,673	33.3
TN	2,219	6,829,174	32.5
Total	20,312	55,763,066	36.4
U.S.	74,511	328,239,523	22.7

(*) number of drug induced 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 December 1, 2021

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