In 2020 there were 80,454 deaths in the four-state Southwestern U.S. region that were attributable to heart disease.  In relation to the size of its population, the number of heart disease deaths per 100,000 population in the Southwestern U.S. was about 11.3% below the national average in 2020.  However, as seen in other parts of the country, there was a very wide disparity in heart disease death rates between urban and rural populations in the U.S. Southwest.  In the largest population centers in the Southwestern U.S., counties recorded heart disease death rates in 2020 that were not only significantly lower than in less populated parts of the region but were also well below the national average heart disease death rate of 211.5 deaths per 100,000 population.  A closer study of the National Center for Health Statistics mortality data provides the following details about urban vs. rural heart disease death rates in the Southwestern U.S.:

Urban vs. Rural Heart Disease Death Rates in the Southwestern U.S.

County Classification	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
Large Central Metro	28,989	19,280,005	150.4
Large Fringe Metro	11,142	7,012,596	158.9
Medium Metro	16,484	7,702,280	214.0
Small Metro	7,957	3,423,216	232.4
Micropolitan (Nonmetro)	8,741	3,284,626	266.1
NonCore (Nonmetro)	7,141	2,166,539	329.6
Region	80,454	42,869,262	187.7
Nationally	696,962	329,484,123	211.5

(*) number of heart disease deaths per 100,000 population

Report Period: 2020

States in region:  Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas

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 January 28, 2023