In 2020, the U.S. recorded over 96,000 drug-induced deaths.  Drug overdoses, both accidental and intentional, accounted for about 95% of these fatalities.  At about 29.2 deaths per 100,000 population in 2020, the national drug-induced death rate has more than quadrupled from its 1999 level of 6.9 deaths per 100,000 population.  Examination of state-level data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics revealed the following to be the ten states with the lowest drug-induced death rates in 2020:

Ten States with the Lowest Drug-Induced Death Rates

State/Deaths	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
Georgia	2,024	10,710,017	18.9
Kansas	521	2,913,805	17.9
Wyoming	104	582,328	17.9
North Dakota	124	765,309	16.2
Idaho	295	1,826,913	16.1
Montana	172	1,080,577	15.9
Texas	4,384	29,360,759	14.9
Iowa	450	3,163,561	14.2
Nebraska	237	1,937,552	12.2
South Dakota	86	892,717	9.6
Total	8,397	53,233,538	15.8
U.S.	96,096	328,484,123	29.2

(*) 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 1999-2020 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2020, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed on December 3, 2022

related commentary: Regional Drug-Induced Death Rates in the U.S.