Where More Prospects Are Having Lung Problems: 50 States of Trend Data

In this USA map, most of the country looks good. West Virginia is an extreme outlier. Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia are a bit weak. (Credit: Allison Bell/ALM)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an example of the financial services community doing a noble thing in an effort to make more money.

COPD includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and other conditions that interfere with breathing.

Life insurers and other financial services companies have helped turn the tide against COPD by doing everything they could to stop clients from smoking, to add to their years of healthy life.

But COPD continues to be a problem in some parts of the United States, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to collect data on it through its Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey program.

More articles in this Health Data Atlas collection:

We used BRFSS data to map out where the COPD continued to be a growing problem, even among people in households earning more than $50,000 per year.

The map shows how state COPD rates changed for those people between 2013 and 2018.

For trend data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, see the table below.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
The percentage of adults, with annual household income over $50,000, who say they have COPD.
"COPD" includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and other lung conditions that cause breathing problems.
Location	2013	2018	Change, in percentage points
Alabama	4.7	3.9	-0.8
Alaska	3.5	3.4	-0.1
Arizona	4.0	4.3	0.3
Arkansas	3.1	3.7	0.6
California	2.9	3.0	0.1
Colorado	2.6	2.3	-0.3
Connecticut	2.7	3.2	0.5
Delaware	3.9	4.2	0.3
District of Columbia	2.5	2.1	-0.4
Florida	3.9	5.9	2.0
Georgia	2.7	3.6	0.9
Hawaii	4.4	3.2	-1.3
Idaho	2.5	2.5	0.0
Illinois	3.6	4.0	0.4
Indiana	3.6	4.2	0.6
Iowa	2.6	2.8	0.2
Kansas	2.6	3.5	0.9
Kentucky	4.1	4.3	0.2
Louisiana	4.0	4.1	0.1
Maine	2.7	3.3	0.6
Maryland	3.3	3.5	0.2
Massachusetts	3.4	2.5	-0.9
Michigan	3.5	3.8	0.3
Minnesota	1.8	2.2	0.4
Mississippi	3.8	4.9	1.1
Missouri	2.8	4.0	1.2
Montana	2.6	3.4	0.8
Nebraska	2.3	3.6	1.3
Nevada	4.0	4.1	0.1
New Hampshire	3.1	3.9	0.8
New Jersey	3.8	3.4	-0.4
New Mexico	3.5	3.8	0.3
New York	2.6	3.4	0.8
North Carolina	2.4	3.1	0.7
North Dakota	2.5	2.3	-0.3
Ohio	3.8	3.5	-0.3
Oklahoma	3.4	4.8	1.4
Oregon	2.5	2.9	0.4
Pennsylvania	3.3	3.4	0.1
Puerto Rico	3.6		-3.6
Rhode Island	3.3	3.5	0.2
South Carolina	3.5	3.5	0.0
South Dakota	1.3	1.6	0.3
Tennessee	2.8	4.1	1.3
Texas	3.7	4.3	0.6
Utah	1.9	2.5	0.6
Vermont	2.5	2.4	-0.1
Virginia	2.4	3.6	1.2
Washington	2.7	2.6	-0.1
West Virginia	3.1	6.9	3.8
Wisconsin	2.2	2.6	0.4
Wyoming	3.3	2.7	-0.6
MEDIAN	3.1	3.5	0.3