health_mortality_overall_county_year
Comprehensive mortality snapshot per county combining all tracked causes. CHR 2025 spine (YPLL, CVD, drug OD, suicide, firearm) joined with NCI cancer, CDC WONDER alcohol (pooled 2018-2024), NHTSA FARS (most recent year), and CDC USALEEP life expectancy. Deaths-of-despair composite computed.
tier bregression_model
overview
overview
3,144 counties. Mixed-source mortality with suppression on individual causes.
current vintage — CHR 2025; USALEEP 2010-2015; WONDER 2024 provisional; NHTSA FARS 2023
history — Components vary; USALEEP single tract-rolled vintage
provenance
source & licensing
authority
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|UWPHI|National Cancer Institute|U.S. Department of Transportation
dataset
County Health Rankings 2025 + CDC USALEEP + CDC WONDER + NCI SEER + NHTSA FARS
source url
license
Mixed: Public domain (CDC, NCI, NHTSA); Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CHR); USALEEP public domain
citation
County Health Rankings 2025 + CDC USALEEP + CDC WONDER + NCI SEER Cancer Statistics + NHTSA FARS.
schema
fields
| name | type | definition |
|---|---|---|
| alcohol_deaths_pooled | int64 · count | Total count of alcohol-attributable deaths pooled across multiple years to reduce small-number instability. Used as the numerator for the corresponding rate. |
| alcohol_mortality_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Age-adjusted mortality rate from alcohol-attributable causes per 100,000 population. Higher values indicate greater burden of alcohol-related death in the county. |
| cancer_avg_annual_deaths | float64 · count | Average annual count of cancer deaths in the county, pooled across multiple years to produce stable estimates for small populations. Used as the numerator for the corresponding rate. |
| cancer_mortality_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Age-adjusted cancer mortality rate per 100,000 population, typically averaged over multiple years to stabilize small-county estimates. Higher values indicate greater cancer mortality burden. |
| cardiovascular_ci_lower_95 | float64 · rate per 100k | Lower bound of the 95% confidence interval for the age-adjusted cardiovascular mortality rate per 100,000 population. Values below this bound are statistically unlikely given the observed data. |
| cardiovascular_ci_upper_95 | float64 · rate per 100k | Upper bound of the 95% confidence interval for the age-adjusted cardiovascular mortality rate per 100,000 population. Values above this bound are statistically unlikely given the observed data. |
| cardiovascular_deaths | int64 · count | Raw count of deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease in the county-year. Used as the numerator for the corresponding rate column. |
| cardiovascular_deaths_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Age-adjusted cardiovascular disease mortality rate per 100,000 population. Higher values indicate greater burden of heart and circulatory disease mortality in the county. |
| country_id | string | ISO alpha-2 country code (always 'US' for domestic tables). |
| county_idkey | string | 5-character FIPS code identifying the county.Joins dim.counties on county_id. |
| crash_count | int64 · count | Total number of fatal traffic crashes (distinct crash events) in the county for the reference year, sourced from NHTSA FARS data. A single crash may produce multiple fatalities. |
| crash_fatalities | int64 · count | Total number of traffic crash fatalities in the county for the reference year, sourced from NHTSA FARS data. Counts all persons killed in motor vehicle crashes on public roads. |
| deaths_of_despair_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Combined mortality rate from drug overdoses, suicide, and alcohol-related causes per 100,000 population, calculated as the sum of those three cause-specific rates. Higher values indicate greater combined despair-related mortality burden. |
| drug_overdose_deaths_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Age-adjusted mortality rate from drug overdoses per 100,000 population. Higher values indicate greater prevalence of fatal drug overdose in the county. |
| firearm_deaths_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Age-adjusted firearm mortality rate per 100,000 population, including homicides, suicides, and unintentional deaths. Higher values indicate greater firearm-related mortality burden. |
| life_expectancy_se | float64 · years | Standard error of the county-level life expectancy estimate, reflecting uncertainty from the tract-level aggregation. Larger values indicate less precise estimates, common in counties with few tracts. |
| life_expectancy_tract_count | int64 · count | Number of census tracts whose estimates were aggregated to produce the county life expectancy value. Lower counts indicate sparser coverage and typically correspond to higher standard errors. |
| life_expectancy_years | float64 · years | Estimated life expectancy at birth for county residents, derived from tract-level estimates aggregated to the county. Higher values indicate longer expected lifespan. |
| nhtsa_year | int64 | The NHTSA FARS data year to which the crash fatality columns pertain. May differ from the row's nominal year when the most recent available FARS release lags by one year. |
| premature_death_ypll_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Years of potential life lost (YPLL) before age 75 per 100,000 population, a summary measure of premature mortality. Higher values indicate greater burden of early death in the county. |
| state_id | string | 2-character FIPS code identifying the state.Joins dim.states on state_id. |
| suicide_deaths_per_100k | float64 · rate per 100k | Age-adjusted suicide mortality rate per 100,000 population. Higher values indicate a greater burden of suicide-related death in the county. |
| yearkey | int64 | Reference year of the observation. |
relationships
joins
primary key
county_id, year
common joins
dim.geographies on county_id
health_mortality_despair_county_year on (county_id, year)
health_mortality_violence_county_year on (county_id, year)
scorecard_health_county on county_id
usage
how to use this table
method
Joins CHR (YPLL, CVD, drug OD, suicide, firearm) with NCI SEER cancer mortality, CDC WONDER alcohol pooled, NHTSA FARS most recent year, and CDC USALEEP life expectancy. Deaths-of-despair composite computed.
do not use for
Cross-source rate comparison (component vintages and methodology differ); single-county trend (mixed vintages); attribution claims.
known issues
Heavy mixed-vintage problem: USALEEP life expectancy is from 2010-2015 tract data; this is the only national source at sub-state grain. CHR mortality is mostly crude.
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last updated · May 5, 2026