The Geography of Death

FiveThirtyEight has mapped the mortality rates in the USA for all of the leading causes of death. 35 Years Of American Death provides a choropleth view of mortality rates in every U.S. county from 1980 to 2014.

The maps show some regional variations in the mortality rates for different causes of death. FiveThirtyEight highlight some of these regional variations in the article beneath the map. For example, 12 counties in rural Appalachia are among the top 20 counties with the highest mortality rates in the whole country. In the top 20 counties with the lowest mortality rates 18 of them are west of the Mississippi.

FiveThirtyEight are also using the mortality rates map to illustrate a series of articles examining the relatively high mortality rates in the Black Belt. The first of these articles examines how Patterns Of Death In The South Still Show The Outlines Of Slavery.