Top 15 Major Causes of Death, 2017

 

      Age-adjusted death rate (1)
Rank Cause of death Number of deaths Rate Percent change from 2016
1 Heart disease   647,457 165.0 –0.3%
2 Malignant neoplasms (tumors)   599,108 152.5 –2.1
3 Accidents (unintentional injuries)   169,936 49.4 4.2
4 Chronic lower respiratory diseases   160,201 40.9 0.7
5 Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)   146,383 37.6 0.8
6 Alzheimer's disease   121,404 31.0 2.3
7 Diabetes   83,564 21.5 2.4
8 Influenza and pneumonia   55,672 14.3 5.9
9 Kidney disease   50,633 13.0 –0.8
10 Intentional self-harm (suicide)   47,173 14.0 3.7
11 Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis   41,743 10.9 1.9
12 Septicemia   40,922 10.6 –0.9
13 Hypertension (2)   35,316 9.0 4.7
14 Parkinson's disease   31,963 8.4 5.0
15 Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids   20,108 5.1 –1.9
  All other causes   561,920 NA NA
  All deaths 2,813,503 731.9 0.4%
(1) Per 100,000 population; factors out differences based on age. (2) Essential (primary) hypertension and hypertensive renal disease. NA=Not applicable. Source: National Center for Health Statistics.