No one gets out of here alive (to borrow the title of a 1980 biography of The Doors frontman Jim Morrison). Everybody has to go some time.
What we go from varies widely, of course, and has changed considerably over time. In 1922, a year in which the overall death rate in the U.S. was the second-lowest ever recorded, residents still had to worry about dying from tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, and of course influenza.
Fast forward a century: Influenza is still a threat — it killed about 21,000 people in the U.S. over the 2022-2023 flu season — but no longer figures as a major cause of death. The rest of those diseases are no longer a cause for concern (though there is a small if potentially worrisome uptake in measles infections in some places, due to a rise in vaccine resistance). However, the Grim Reaper has plenty of other tools at his disposal.
We have no defense against some causes of death. Alzheimer’s is a stealthy killer, for instance, working slowly but inexorably to bring us down. Accidents are, well, accidental. Diseases of the heart can sometimes be staved off by exercise, proper diet, and other measures, but some are due to heredity or congenital weaknesses. On the other hand, COVID-19 was often deadly before the introduction of vaccines, but now seriously threatens only those who refuse to take preventative measures.
While death rates rose in all but one of the categories here, the increases were minor. The one in which the rate fell dramatically was COVID, which claimed 416,893 lives in 2021 and only 186,522 in 2022 (though that is obviously far too many). And the trend is definitely heading in the right direction, with 48,615 coronavirus-related fatalities recorded through early September of last year. With any luck, COVID-19 might even fall off the top 10 list when complete data for 2023 is compiled. (These are the states where COVID-19 was the worst last month.)
To determine the 10 leading causes of death in 2022, the latest year for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has complete data, as well as in the previous year for the sake of comparison, 24/7 Tempo reviewed “Leading Causes of Death” and related documents published by the CDC.
Here is the list of the 10 leading causes of death in 2022.
10. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
- Number of deaths in 2022: 54,803 (1.7% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 13.8 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 56,585 (1.6% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 14.5 deaths per 100,000 people
9. Kidney diseases (including nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis)
- Number of deaths in 2022: 57,937 (1.8% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 13.8 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 54,358 (1.6% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 13.6 deaths per 100,000 people
8. Diabetes mellitus (both Type 1 and 2)
- Number of deaths in 2022: 101,209 (3.1% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 24.1 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 103,294 (3% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 25.4 deaths per 100,000 people
7. Alzheimer’s disease
- Number of deaths in 2022: 120,122 (3.7% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 28.9 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 119,399 (3.4% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 31 deaths per 100,000 people
6. Chronic lower respiratory diseases (including emphysema)
- Number of deaths in 2022: 147,382 (4.5% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 34.3 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 142,342 (4.1% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 34.7 deaths per 100,000 people
5. Cerebrovascular diseases (including stroke)
- Number of deaths in 2022: 165,393 (5% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 39.5 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 162,890 (4.7% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 41.1 deaths per 100,000 people
4. COVID-19
- Number of deaths in 2022: 186,552 (5.7% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 44.5 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 416,893 (12% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 104.1 deaths per 100,000 people
3. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
- Number of deaths in 2022: 227,039 (6.9% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 64 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 224,935 (6.5% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 64.7 deaths per 100,000 people
2. Cancer
- Number of deaths in 2022: 608,371 (18.5% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 142.3 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 605,213 (17.5% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 146.6 deaths per 100,000 people
1. Diseases of the heart
- Number of deaths in 2022: 702,880 (21.4% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2022: 167.2 deaths per 100,000 people
- Number of deaths in 2021: 695,547 (20.1% of all U.S. deaths)
- Rate in 2021: 173.8 deaths per 100,000 people