Indicator Data by State

Infant mortality is an important indicator of maternal and child health and marker of overall population health. Nationally, the infant mortality rate for 2019 was 5.6 per 1,000 live births. Not all mothers have equal access to health care and other resources that support maternal and child health. Structural racism in the health care field can drive differences in access to quality care and health outcomes across racial and ethnic groups. Experiencing racism and associated trauma can also directly affect health outcomes and drive inequities across groups. The table below presents data disaggregated by race and ethnicity to help us identify inequities and work toward solutions that promote equity.

Home Visiting as Part of the Solution. Home visiting promotes access to prenatal and pediatric care, safe sleep practices, safer homes, and nurturing relationships. Such practices can improve overall maternal and infant health and well-being, and contribute to lower rates of infant mortality.

Infant Mortality by State (per 1,000), 2018

Notes: The original data source reports Hispanic origin separately from race variables; therefore, the population included in each race category does not exclude people of Hispanic origin. NA appears instead of death, birth, and rate values when the death value represents 0–9 subnational events. This is because the data do not meet the criteria for confidentiality constraints. More information can be found at http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/lbd.html#Assurance of Confidentiality. An * appears for rates when there are fewer than 20 deaths in the numerator. This is because the figure does not meet the National Center for Health Statistics’ standard of reliability or precision. More information can be found at http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/lbd.html#Unreliable. Infant deaths are weighted, so data may not add exactly to totals due to rounding. More information can be found at http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/lbd.html#WeightFactors-Totals.

Definition: Infant mortality refers to the rate of infant (under 1 year) deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019. Due to the small number of infant deaths in Vermont, the data were deemed unreliable by the source, so we included data from 2018. Data for the District of Columbia were not included in the Stats of the States table but are included elsewhere on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, as noted below. The overall infant mortality rate is from a different publication, Mortality in the United States, 2019, also noted below. The most recent data available for disaggregated infant mortality rates by race and ethnicity are from 2018, and were compiled from the CDC Wonder database, also noted below.

Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Pressroom. Stats of the states, infant mortality rates by state, as compiled from data provided by the CDC WONDER Online Database. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/infant_mortality_rates/infant_mortality.htm

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Pressroom. District of Columbia, as compiled from data provided by the CDC WONDER Online Database. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/dc/DC1.htm

Kochanek, K. D., Xu, J., & Arias, E. (2020). Mortality in the United States, 2019 (Data Brief No. 395). National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db395.htm#:~:text=Data%20from%20the%20National%20Vital,2018%20to%20715.2%20in%202019

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics. (2020). Linked birth/infant death records 2007–2018 [CDC WONDER Online Database, July 2021]. https://wonder.cdc.gov