US death rate declines for third year in a row

In 2024, the U.S. death rate fell by 3.8%, marking the third straight year of declines. Overall, there were 722 deaths per 100,000 people, the lowest mortality rates since 2019 when there were 715.2 deaths per 100,000 people.

Between 2023 and 2024, death rates decreased for all age groups except infants under the age of one. Death rates were lowest among children ages 5 to 14 (14.4 deaths per 100,000) and highest among adults ages 85 and older (13,835.5 per 100,000).

Death rates also decreased for all race and ethnicity groups, as well as men and women, in 2024, but disparities persist. Black Americans continue to have the highest death rate among all racial/ethnic groups at 924 deaths per 100,000, which is 28% higher than the overall U.S. death rate. Men also continue to have significantly higher death rates compared to women (844.8 per 100,000 vs. 613.5 per 100,000, respectively).

The top three leading causes of death in the United States in 2024 were heart disease, cancer, and unintentional injury — the same as they were the year before. COVID-19, which was the 10th leading cause of death in 2023, has since fallen to 15th. Suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death.

Although overall U.S. death rates have improved, Eric Topol, founder and director of Scripps Research, said the high rates of deaths from chronic diseases are still concerning. Compared to 2023, deaths from both heart disease and cancer increased in 2024. The United States also lags behind other countries when it comes to health outcomes, life expectancy, infant mortality, and maternal mortality.

"Heart disease is still number one, and it's definitely not going in the right direction," Topol said. He added four of the top leading causes of death (heart disease, cancer, stroke, and Alzheimer's) are avoidable.

"These numbers are not encouraging," he said. "We're talking about diseases that are eminently preventable, just with lifestyle factors, but we have 75% of the population that doesn't do even the minimum requirement of exercise."

Kathleen Ethier, a former CDC official at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, agreed, saying that chronic diseases "are things that develop over time, that are highly impacted by our behavior and environments and genetics."

New policy changes, including significant cuts to research funding, could also negatively impact people's health over time.

"The reduction of research support isn't going to help matters," Topol said. "It's the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Where is the prevention?"

"What this administration is doing is going to make the top ten causes of death worse," Ethier said, noting that the Trump administration's fiscal year 2026 budget includes cuts to the CDC division focused on preventing and eliminating chronic diseases.