In 2020 there were nearly 89,900 deaths in the six-state Far Western U.S. region that were attributable to cancer.  Relative to the size of its population, the number of cancer deaths per 100,000 population in the Far West was about 13% lower than the national average.  While the region as a whole compared favorably to the national cancer death rate, most of the better results were concentrated in counties in the region's large to medium-sized metropolitan areas. In rural areas and smaller population centers in the Far West, counties recorded cancer death rates in 2020 that were significantly higher than in the whole region or the nation.  A closer review of data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides the following details about urban vs. rural cancer death rates in the Far Western U.S.:

Urban vs. Rural Cancer Death Rates in the Far Western U.S.

County Classification	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
Large Central Metro	44,458	30,332,613	146.6
Large Fringe Metro	13,595	8,675,719	156.7
Medium Metro	18,314	11,295,695	162.1
Small Metro	6,107	3,184,983	191.7
Micropolitan (Nonmetro)	5,583	2,325,131	239.7
NonCore (Nonmetro)	1,822	756,133	241.0
Region	89,869	56,570,274	158.9
Nationally	602,350	329,484,123	182.8

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

Report Period: 2020

States in region:  Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington

See the 2013 NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for additional information on population categories, including a map of which U.S. counties fall in which categories.

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 17, 2022