An open data project
Understanding death, birth, and population change in America
Why We Die turns official CDC data into interactive charts you can actually explore, how many people died and why, how many were born, and how the US population has shifted as a result.
The US, so far today
By the NumbersRoughly one US birth every 9 seconds, one death every 10. These are the latest 12-month totals spread evenly across the clock, a projection and not a live feed.
In the year
- Americans born
- 4,058,814
- 14.4 per 1,000 people
- Gen Z generation
- Americans who died
- 2,403,351
- Population change (births − deaths)
- +1,655,463
- Leading cause of death
- Heart disease
- 710,760 deaths
Births 1909–2025 · deaths & population change 1968–2025 · leading cause 1999 on (the NCHS 113-cause era) · generation labels from Pew's cutoffs through Gen Z, McCrindle Research's for Gen Alpha/Beta (Silent onward). Source: CDC WONDER pipeline snapshots (mortality.json, natality.json) + CDC Socrata NCHS Births and General Fertility Rates (e6fc-ccez) for pre-1960 births.
Data table
| Year | Births | Birth rate | Deaths | Natural increase | Leading cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909 | 2,718,000 | 30 | — | — | — |
| 1910 | 2,777,000 | 30.1 | — | — | — |
| 1911 | 2,809,000 | 29.9 | — | — | — |
| 1912 | 2,840,000 | 29.8 | — | — | — |
| 1913 | 2,869,000 | 29.5 | — | — | — |
| 1914 | 2,986,000 | 29.9 | — | — | — |
| 1915 | 2,965,000 | 29.5 | — | — | — |
| 1916 | 2,964,000 | 29.1 | — | — | — |
| 1917 | 2,944,000 | 28.5 | — | — | — |
| 1918 | 2,948,000 | 28.2 | — | — | — |
| 1919 | 2,740,000 | 26.1 | — | — | — |
| 1920 | 2,950,000 | 27.7 | — | — | — |
| 1921 | 3,055,000 | 28.1 | — | — | — |
| 1922 | 2,882,000 | 26.2 | — | — | — |
| 1923 | 2,910,000 | 26 | — | — | — |
| 1924 | 2,979,000 | 26.1 | — | — | — |
| 1925 | 2,909,000 | 25.1 | — | — | — |
| 1926 | 2,839,000 | 24.2 | — | — | — |
| 1927 | 2,802,000 | 23.5 | — | — | — |
| 1928 | 2,674,000 | 22.2 | — | — | — |
| 1929 | 2,582,000 | 21.2 | — | — | — |
| 1930 | 2,618,000 | 21.3 | — | — | — |
| 1931 | 2,506,000 | 20.2 | — | — | — |
| 1932 | 2,440,000 | 19.5 | — | — | — |
| 1933 | 2,307,000 | 18.4 | — | — | — |
| 1934 | 2,396,000 | 19 | — | — | — |
| 1935 | 2,377,000 | 18.7 | — | — | — |
| 1936 | 2,355,000 | 18.4 | — | — | — |
| 1937 | 2,413,000 | 18.7 | — | — | — |
| 1938 | 2,496,000 | 19.2 | — | — | — |
| 1939 | 2,466,000 | 18.8 | — | — | — |
| 1940 | 2,559,000 | 19.4 | — | — | — |
| 1941 | 2,703,000 | 20.3 | — | — | — |
| 1942 | 2,989,000 | 22.2 | — | — | — |
| 1943 | 3,104,000 | 22.7 | — | — | — |
| 1944 | 2,939,000 | 21.2 | — | — | — |
| 1945 | 2,858,000 | 20.4 | — | — | — |
| 1946 | 3,411,000 | 24.1 | — | — | — |
| 1947 | 3,817,000 | 26.6 | — | — | — |
| 1948 | 3,637,000 | 24.9 | — | — | — |
| 1949 | 3,649,000 | 24.5 | — | — | — |
| 1950 | 3,632,000 | 24.1 | — | — | — |
| 1951 | 3,820,000 | 24.9 | — | — | — |
| 1952 | 3,909,000 | 25.1 | — | — | — |
| 1953 | 3,959,000 | 25.1 | — | — | — |
| 1954 | 4,071,000 | 25.3 | — | — | — |
| 1955 | 4,097,000 | 25 | — | — | — |
| 1956 | 4,210,000 | 25.2 | — | — | — |
| 1957 | 4,300,000 | 25.3 | — | — | — |
| 1958 | 4,246,000 | 24.6 | — | — | — |
| 1959 | 4,244,796 | 24 | — | — | — |
| 1960 | 4,257,850 | 23.7 | — | — | — |
| 1961 | 4,268,326 | 23.3 | — | — | — |
| 1962 | 4,167,362 | 22.4 | — | — | — |
| 1963 | 4,098,020 | 21.7 | — | — | — |
| 1964 | 4,027,490 | 21.1 | — | — | — |
| 1965 | 3,760,358 | 19.4 | — | — | — |
| 1966 | 3,606,274 | 18.4 | — | — | — |
| 1967 | 3,520,959 | 17.8 | — | — | — |
| 1968 | 3,501,564 | 17.6 | 1,930,082 | 1,571,482 | — |
| 1969 | 3,600,206 | 17.9 | 1,921,990 | 1,678,216 | — |
| 1970 | 3,731,386 | 18.4 | 1,921,031 | 1,810,355 | — |
| 1971 | 3,555,970 | 17.2 | 1,927,542 | 1,628,428 | — |
| 1972 | 3,258,411 | 15.6 | 1,963,944 | 1,294,467 | — |
| 1973 | 3,136,965 | 14.8 | 1,973,003 | 1,163,962 | — |
| 1974 | 3,159,958 | 14.8 | 1,934,388 | 1,225,570 | — |
| 1975 | 3,144,198 | 14.6 | 1,892,879 | 1,251,319 | — |
| 1976 | 3,167,788 | 14.6 | 1,909,440 | 1,258,348 | — |
| 1977 | 3,326,632 | 15.1 | 1,899,597 | 1,427,035 | — |
| 1978 | 3,333,279 | 15 | 1,927,788 | 1,405,491 | — |
| 1979 | 3,494,398 | 15.6 | 1,913,841 | 1,580,557 | — |
| 1980 | 3,612,258 | 15.9 | 1,989,841 | 1,622,417 | — |
| 1981 | 3,629,238 | 15.8 | 1,977,981 | 1,651,257 | — |
| 1982 | 3,680,537 | 15.9 | 1,974,797 | 1,705,740 | — |
| 1983 | 3,638,933 | 15.6 | 2,019,201 | 1,619,732 | — |
| 1984 | 3,669,141 | 15.6 | 2,039,369 | 1,629,772 | — |
| 1985 | 3,760,561 | 15.8 | 2,086,440 | 1,674,121 | — |
| 1986 | 3,756,547 | 15.6 | 2,105,361 | 1,651,186 | — |
| 1987 | 3,809,394 | 15.7 | 2,123,323 | 1,686,071 | — |
| 1988 | 3,909,510 | 16 | 2,167,999 | 1,741,511 | — |
| 1989 | 4,040,958 | 16.4 | 2,150,466 | 1,890,492 | — |
| 1990 | 4,158,212 | 16.7 | 2,148,463 | 2,009,749 | — |
| 1991 | 4,110,907 | 16.2 | 2,169,518 | 1,941,389 | — |
| 1992 | 4,065,014 | 15.8 | 2,175,613 | 1,889,401 | — |
| 1993 | 4,000,240 | 15.4 | 2,268,553 | 1,731,687 | — |
| 1994 | 3,952,767 | 15 | 2,278,994 | 1,673,773 | — |
| 1995 | 3,899,589 | 14.6 | 2,312,132 | 1,587,457 | — |
| 1996 | 3,891,494 | 14.4 | 2,314,690 | 1,576,804 | — |
| 1997 | 3,880,894 | 14.2 | 2,314,245 | 1,566,649 | — |
| 1998 | 3,941,553 | 14.3 | 2,337,256 | 1,604,297 | — |
| 1999 | 3,959,417 | 14.2 | 2,391,399 | 1,568,018 | Heart disease |
| 2000 | 4,058,814 | 14.4 | 2,403,351 | 1,655,463 | Heart disease |
| 2001 | 4,025,933 | 14.1 | 2,416,425 | 1,609,508 | Heart disease |
| 2002 | 4,021,726 | 14 | 2,443,387 | 1,578,339 | Heart disease |
| 2003 | 4,089,950 | 14.1 | 2,448,288 | 1,641,662 | Heart disease |
| 2004 | 4,112,052 | 14 | 2,397,615 | 1,714,437 | Heart disease |
| 2005 | 4,138,349 | 14 | 2,448,017 | 1,690,332 | Heart disease |
| 2006 | 4,265,555 | 14.3 | 2,426,264 | 1,839,291 | Heart disease |
| 2007 | 4,316,233 | 14.3 | 2,423,712 | 1,892,521 | Heart disease |
| 2008 | 4,247,694 | 14 | 2,471,984 | 1,775,710 | Heart disease |
| 2009 | 4,130,665 | 13.5 | 2,437,163 | 1,693,502 | Heart disease |
| 2010 | 3,999,386 | 13 | 2,468,435 | 1,530,951 | Heart disease |
| 2011 | 3,953,590 | 12.7 | 2,515,458 | 1,438,132 | Heart disease |
| 2012 | 3,952,841 | 12.6 | 2,543,279 | 1,409,562 | Heart disease |
| 2013 | 3,932,181 | 12.4 | 2,596,993 | 1,335,188 | Heart disease |
| 2014 | 3,988,076 | 12.5 | 2,626,418 | 1,361,658 | Heart disease |
| 2015 | 3,978,497 | 12.4 | 2,712,630 | 1,265,867 | Heart disease |
| 2016 | 3,945,875 | 12.2 | 2,744,248 | 1,201,627 | Heart disease |
| 2017 | 3,855,500 | 11.8 | 2,813,503 | 1,041,997 | Heart disease |
| 2018 | 3,791,712 | 11.6 | 2,839,205 | 952,507 | Heart disease |
| 2019 | 3,747,540 | — | 2,854,838 | 892,702 | Heart disease |
| 2020 | 3,613,647 | — | 3,383,729 | 229,918 | Heart disease |
| 2021 | 3,664,292 | — | 3,464,231 | 200,061 | Heart disease |
| 2022 | 3,667,758 | — | 3,279,857 | 387,901 | Heart disease |
| 2023 | 3,596,017 | — | 3,090,964 | 505,053 | Heart disease |
| 2024 | 3,628,934 | — | 3,072,666 | 556,268 | Heart disease |
| 2025 | 3,606,407 | — | 3,096,850 | 509,557 | Heart disease |
What this site does
Nearly every chart on this site is built from public data published on data.cdc.gov, CDC's open data platform (the International comparison instead uses the World Bank's open data). Rather than a single snapshot, the goal is to make it easy to see how these numbers move over time: which causes of death are rising or falling, how birth counts compare across recent years, and what that means for population growth overall.
This is an independent, non-commercial project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the CDC, and it requires no account or sign-in. The data is free to explore for anyone.
On the site
Death Statistics Over Time
Annual US deaths back to 1968, with the age-adjusted rate spliced to 1900, plus the most current monthly figures CDC has published.
Causes of Death
Leading causes of death ranked by year (1999–present) with deaths, crude rate, and age-adjusted rate, plus trends over time, a sex/race/age breakdown, and broad ICD chapters back to 1968.
Birth Statistics
Annual US births back to 1960 with the birth and fertility rates, Pew generation bands, and CDC's most current provisional monthly counts.
Population Decline / Gain
Births vs. deaths and the shrinking natural increase between them, plus a century of US births.
By the Numbers
US births and deaths as a daily average, next to a few other things that happen in the same 24 hours.
Injury Deaths
Suicide, homicide, and drug overdose deaths since 1999, plus how much of each involves a firearm.
State Comparison
Age-adjusted death rates by US state or region, for about 20 leading causes, updated quarterly.
US vs. Peer Countries
How the US compares with the UK, France, and Japan on death rate, life expectancy, and fertility rate.
About the data
- Source
- CDC WONDER + data.cdc.gov, plus World Bank for the international comparison
- Coverage
- National (US); 1900–present depending on the series
- Access
- Free, open, no account required