Mortality – Drug Overdose (Modelled)

Methodology

Data on deaths comes from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), compiled by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. This system includes information from death certificates completed by state vital records offices, covering causes of death reported by physicians, medical examiners, and coroners. Data are presented as crude rates per 100,000 people at national, state, county, and census tract levels*. Final data are presented for single year periods and provisional data are presented for the latest trailing twelve month period, after a 6 month delay.

When fewer than 10 deaths are reported in an area, the total number of deaths is displayed as a range (“1-9”) to protect individuals’ privacy. If no deaths are recorded, the dashboard will display a zero. For areas with 10 or more deaths, the rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths by the local population.

*Grouped Census Tracts: Death data is displayed by the census tract location of the residence of the person who died, which might not necessarily be the location where the person died. Some census tracts have areas with small populations, so nearby census tracts are combined together until they form a group that has a minimum population of 10,000 people. Grouping helps to protect privacy and to increase stability when calculating rates.

For further details, please visit the CDC Mapping Injury, Overdose, and Violence Dashboard.