In 2020, cancer accounted for 602,350 deaths in the United States.  In the five-state Rocky Mountain region, 17,883 deaths in 2020 were attributed to cancer, or about 3% of all cancer deaths in the nation that year.  At 142.5 deaths per 100,000 population, the Rocky Mountain region had a cancer death rate in 2020 that was 22% lower than the national average, giving the region the lowest regional cancer death rate in the nation.  Only one Rocky Mountain state had a cancer death rate at the state level that was higher than the national average.  Further examination of state-level data from the National Center for Health Statistics yields the following details about cancer death rates in the Rocky Mountain region:

Cancer Death Rates in the Rocky Mountain Region

State	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
Colorado	8,252	5,807,719	142.1
Idaho	3,004	1,826,913	164.4
Montana	2,138	1,080,577	197.9
Utah	3,460	3,249,879	106.5
Wyoming	1,029	582,328	176.7
Region	17,883	12,547,416	142.5
U.S.	602,350	329,484,123	182.8

(*) number of cancer deaths per 100,000 population

Report Period: 2020

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 July 9, 2022