US Counties With the Highest Premature Mortality

3,080 US counties ranked by premature mortality, from highest to lowest. First are Buffalo County, SD (1,949), Dewey County, SD (1,606) and Oglala Lakota County, SD (1,585). The middle one of the 3,080 has 480.

What this measures

Deaths before age 75 per 100,000 people. It is adjusted so places with older or younger populations can be compared fairly. Source: County Health Rankings.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 highest counties

Every state, highest first

Each state’s own published figure, not an average of its counties.

More on premature mortality

• US Counties With the Lowest Premature Mortality
• Premature mortality by US county: map by year and what it goes with

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.