Child and Teen Death Rates on the Decline

Since 1990, the mor­tal­i­ty rate for Amer­i­can kids has declined 48% — to 24 deaths for every 100,000 chil­dren ages 1 to 19.

Kids ages 15 to 19 expe­ri­enced the largest drop in mor­tal­i­ty rate dur­ing this time peri­od. In 1990, the death rate was 88 for every 100,000 teens. By 2014, this rate had improved to 46 deaths for every 100,000 teens.

Of all racial and eth­nic groups eval­u­at­ed, black teens had the high­est mor­tal­i­ty rate (62 deaths per 100,000 teens) and Asian and Pacif­ic Islander teens the low­est (23 deaths per 100,000 teens).

An array of fac­tors con­tributes to child and teen mor­tal­i­ty rates, includ­ing: over­all phys­i­cal and behav­ioral health, access to med­ical care, and — espe­cial­ly in younger chil­dren — the qual­i­ty of adult supervision.

Vis­it the KIDS COUNT Data Cen­ter to explore new mor­tal­i­ty data for the nation, states and the Dis­trict of Columbia:

• Infant mor­tal­i­ty
• Infant mor­tal­i­ty by race
• Child and teen death rate
• Child and teen death rate by race and ethnicity
• Child deaths
• Child deaths by race
• Teen deaths from all causes
• Teen deaths from all caus­es by race
• Teen deaths by acci­dents, homi­cides and suicide