5 Worst States for Working-Age Deaths This Year (So Far)
COVID-19 continued to be a menace in the first half of this year for advisors who were trying to help working-age clients fine-tune life insurance and retirement planning arrangements. The change in the number of deaths of people ages 25 through 64 ranged from a decrease of 2.5%, in Hawaii, up to an increase of more than 36%, in one state, with a median of 15.5%. For a look at the five states with the biggest working-age death count increases, based on preliminary weekly data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, see the gallery above. For data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, which would have ranked third in the gallery if it were a state, see the chart below.
What It Means
COVID-19, the effects of the pandemic on the economy and the health care system, and other medical, social and economic trends, are continuing to have a devastating effect on mortality for working-age people. That means advisors and their clients may continue to face high levels of uncertainty about what life expectancy estimates to put into income planning calculators and other planning systems.
The Backdrop
About 1.6 million U.S. residents died from all causes between the week ending Jan. 5 and the week ending June 26, according to the CDC weekly death data. The figures for the past few weeks are based on incomplete, adjusted death counts that might increase as more states send complete data to the CDC. The total U.S. death count was down 0.8% from the total for the first half of 2021, but still 15.3% higher than the total for the first half of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began. For working-age people — people ages 25 through 64 — the number of deaths increased 14.8% between the first half of 2019 and the first half of this year, to about 380,000. The rate of increase is down from 24% between the first half of 2019 and the first half of 2021, but it appears to be one of the biggest mortality increases for working-age U.S. residents recorded between the end of World War II and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Deaths From All Causes
| Deaths, by Age Group, for the period running from the week ending Jan. 5 through the Week ending June 26. | 2022 deaths of people ages 25-64, as a share of deaths of all people ages 25 and older | Change in the number of deaths, since 2019, for … | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-44 | 45-64 | 25-64 | 25 and older | Adults ages 25-64 | Adults ages 25 and older | ||
| Alabama | 1,485 | 6,268 | 7,753 | 29,506 | 26.3% | 13.0% | 15.6% |
| Alaska | 131 | 590 | 721 | 2,358 | 30.6% | 10.2% | 20.9% |
| Arizona | 2,056 | 6,658 | 8,714 | 36,984 | 23.6% | 22.5% | 24.9% |
| Arkansas | 943 | 3,755 | 4,698 | 18,335 | 25.6% | 17.5% | 17.8% |
| California | 8,565 | 27,218 | 35,783 | 151,572 | 23.6% | 15.5% | 14.7% |
| Colorado | 1,189 | 4,224 | 5,413 | 23,073 | 23.5% | 9.6% | 20.3% |
| Connecticut | 939 | 2,883 | 3,822 | 18,645 | 20.5% | 22.9% | 19.9% |
| Delaware | 187 | 959 | 1,146 | 5,599 | 20.5% | 22.6% | 31.9% |
| District of Columbia | 221 | 834 | 1,055 | 3,085 | 34.2% | 32.4% | 23.3% |
| Florida | 5,689 | 20,257 | 25,946 | 118,926 | 21.8% | 11.4% | 16.6% |
| Georgia | 2,199 | 10,084 | 12,283 | 48,456 | 25.3% | 5.2% | 18.7% |
| Hawaii | 121 | 1,036 | 1,157 | 6,192 | 18.7% | -2.5% | 9.6% |
| Idaho | 349 | 1,355 | 1,704 | 8,079 | 21.1% | 36.2% | 17.8% |
| Illinois | 2,978 | 10,797 | 13,775 | 58,114 | 23.7% | 17.8% | 14.6% |
| Indiana | 1,767 | 6,908 | 8,675 | 35,605 | 24.4% | 10.9% | 12.0% |
| Iowa | 492 | 2,627 | 3,119 | 16,226 | 19.2% | 7.9% | 11.3% |
| Kansas | 784 | 2,640 | 3,424 | 15,018 | 22.8% | 24.8% | 16.9% |
| Kentucky | 1,452 | 5,910 | 7,362 | 27,318 | 26.9% | 12.5% | 16.0% |
| Louisiana | 1,531 | 5,252 | 6,783 | 24,669 | 27.5% | 9.5% | 12.8% |
| Maine | 420 | 1,417 | 1,837 | 8,166 | 22.5% | 33.6% | 14.9% |
| Maryland | 1,541 | 5,153 | 6,694 | 27,021 | 24.8% | 7.4% | 11.4% |
| Massachusetts | 1,436 | 4,999 | 6,435 | 30,965 | 20.8% | 7.8% | 7.2% |
| Michigan | 2,584 | 9,865 | 12,449 | 53,588 | 23.2% | 15.1% | 15.6% |
| Minnesota | 1,021 | 3,866 | 4,887 | 24,038 | 20.3% | 13.1% | 12.2% |
| Mississippi | 982 | 4,030 | 5,012 | 17,824 | 28.1% | 14.3% | 15.9% |
| Missouri | 1,519 | 6,995 | 8,514 | 35,464 | 24.0% | 11.3% | 15.1% |
| Montana | 256 | 956 | 1,212 | 5,574 | 21.7% | 25.2% | 12.9% |
| Nebraska | 355 | 1,448 | 1,803 | 8,922 | 20.2% | 6.3% | 8.7% |
| Nevada | 898 | 3,087 | 3,985 | 15,735 | 25.3% | 16.4% | 22.4% |
| New Hampshire | 233 | 1,192 | 1,425 | 6,789 | 21.0% | 19.5% | 16.8% |
| New Jersey | 1,687 | 6,830 | 8,517 | 39,986 | 21.3% | 11.1% | 11.6% |
| New Mexico | 942 | 2,097 | 3,039 | 10,875 | 27.9% | 21.4% | 19.9% |
| New York | 2,274 | 8,838 | 11,112 | 54,485 | 20.4% | 18.7% | 12.1% |
| New York City | 1,748 | 5,917 | 7,665 | 29,491 | 26.0% | 15.8% | 13.2% |
| North Carolina | 3,001 | 10,999 | 14,000 | 54,722 | 25.6% | 19.2% | 17.5% |
| North Dakota | 154 | 666 | 820 | 3,610 | 22.7% | 26.2% | 7.2% |
| Ohio | 3,404 | 12,870 | 16,274 | 67,567 | 24.1% | 13.7% | 14.2% |
| Oklahoma | 1,105 | 4,756 | 5,861 | 22,857 | 25.6% | 14.5% | 19.6% |
| Oregon | 1,010 | 3,544 | 4,554 | 21,002 | 21.7% | 17.0% | 16.4% |
| Pennsylvania | 3,199 | 12,265 | 15,464 | 72,006 | 21.5% | 11.0% | 10.4% |
| Puerto Rico | 764 | 2,466 | 3,230 | 16,556 | 19.5% | 1.5% | 15.8% |
| Rhode Island | 124 | 844 | 968 | 5,290 | 18.3% | 13.9% | 6.4% |
| South Carolina | 1,524 | 5,599 | 7,123 | 28,524 | 25.0% | 13.2% | 19.5% |
| South Dakota | 106 | 750 | 856 | 4,197 | 20.4% | 23.0% | 10.2% |
| Tennessee | 2,720 | 9,351 | 12,071 | 42,836 | 28.2% | 17.5% | 18.3% |
| Texas | 7,269 | 24,479 | 31,748 | 118,468 | 26.8% | 19.9% | 21.7% |
| Utah | 695 | 1,799 | 2,494 | 10,933 | 22.8% | 11.0% | 18.9% |
| Vermont | 11 | 569 | 580 | 3,233 | 17.9% | * | * |
| Virginia | 2,107 | 7,443 | 9,550 | 39,895 | 23.9% | 19.5% | 19.8% |
| Washington | 1,693 | 5,702 | 7,395 | 32,705 | 22.6% | 15.8% | 15.5% |
| West Virginia | 747 | 2,796 | 3,543 | 13,396 | 26.4% | 19.4% | 20.0% |
| Wisconsin | 1,377 | 4,979 | 6,356 | 29,058 | 21.9% | 21.5% | 13.7% |
| Wyoming | 12 | 440 | 452 | 2,492 | 18.1% | 11.3% | 21.9% |
| TOTAL | 81,996 | 299,262 | 381,258 | 1,606,030 | 23.7% | ||
| MEDIAN | 23.5% | 15.5% | 15.8% | ||||
| Source: Weekly Counts of Deaths by Jurisdiction and Age. Complete Vermont data for 2019 is not currently available. New York City reports its data separately from the data for New York state. | |||||||
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