In 2020 there were nearly 13,700 deaths in the six-state Far Western U.S. region that were attributable to drug-induced causes.  Relative to the size of its population, at 24.2 death per 100,000 population, the drug-induced death rate in the Far West was about 17% below the national average in 2020.  In most parts of the country, the drug-induced death rate tends to run materially higher in larger urban areas as compared to more rural populations.  That was not the case in the Far Western states as the death rate from drug-related incidents was very similar across all urban and rural population classes in the region.  A closer examination of data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides the following details about urban vs. rural drug-induced death rates in the Far Western U.S.:

Urban vs. Rural Drug-Induced Death Rates in the Far Western U.S.

County Classification	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
Large Central Metro	7,312	30,332,613	24.1
Large Fringe Metro	1,965	8,675,719	22.6
Medium Metro	2,826	11,295,695	25.0
Small Metro	771	3,184,983	24.2
Micropolitan (Nonmetro)	642	2,325,131	27.6
NonCore (Nonmetro)	181	756,133	23.9
Region	13,697	56,570,274	24.2
Nationally	96,096	329,484,123	29.2

(*) number of drug-induced 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 March 23, 2023