Why Is This Important?

Crude death rates are the actual measures of mortality risk in a population. Age-adjusted rates are better for comparison across time, geography, and demographic subgroups, so crude rates should only be used to determine the probability or underlying risk of death.

Definition

The number of resident deaths per 100,000 population

Data Sources

• Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
  (https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/)
• Population Estimates, State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
  (https://www.nj.gov/labor/labormarketinformation/demographics/population-household-estimates/)
• Underlying Cause of Death, CDC WONDER On-line Database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html)

How the Measure is Calculated

How Are We Doing?

The crude death rate in New Jersey was generally decreasing until recent increases beginning in 2015 and then skyrocketing in 2020 due to COVID-19.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

The crude death rate among New Jerseyans was above that of the U.S. until 2008. It remained statistically significantly below the U.S. rate from 2009 through 2019. In 2020, the rate was again above the U.S. rate due to the heavy COVID-19 death toll among New Jersey residents.

More Resources

[[a href="home/Rate.html" Crude Rates vs. Age-Adjusted Rates]]