Mortality Dashboard

The Florida Mortality Dashboard provides a visual display of the most recent leading causes of death in Florida. Age groups are divided into roughly ten year increments to display the difference in the top five leading causes of death. Causes of death are presented for the total population as well as whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Additionally, a breakdown of each cause of death also shows the difference by age and sex. Maps are color coded to show which areas of the state have highest and lowest rates for the selected cause of death. Counties with the darkest color represent the highest age-adjusted death rates and those with the lightest color represent the lowest age-adjusted death rates.

Age-adjusted death rates remove the difference between populations due to differences in age composition. Using age-adjusted rates is a common practice that makes it possible to compare rates across populations. Age-adjusted rates are calculated using the US 2000 Standard Population.

Data for 1970-78, 1979-98, and 1999-present are not fully comparable due to changes in coding causes of death. Consequently, increases or decreases in 1979 and 1999 may not be due to changes in disease trends but rather coding changes.

The sources of data for the Florida Mortality Dashboard are the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics (deaths) and the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research (population).

                        
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Infectious diseases were the major killers of Floridians in the early 1900s. Influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, syphilis, and enteric infections were among the top 10 causes of death in the first third of the 1900s and often struck down Floridians in the prime of their youth. Chronic diseases have generally overtaken infectious diseases as the leading causes of death due to an increase in the standard of living, hygienic changes, and advances in the control of infectious diseases. However, emerging diseases and conditions may impact this long-term trend.

Comparing recent age-adjusted death rates (AADRs) for the 10 leading causes of death with those 20 years ago shows improvements among several causes of death. Positive changes have been made in heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD), diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, kidney diseases, influenza and pneumonia, septicemia, homicide, benign neoplasms, pneumonitis, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AADRs have not improved for unintentional injury, suicide, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (CLDC), hypertension, or Parkinson's disease. COVID-19 is not included due to the lack of comparison data.

In 2024, Florida’s five leading causes of death by age group show the following:
• Perinatal conditions and congenital malformations were the leading causes of death among those under age 1.
• Unintentional injury was a leading cause of death among all Floridians, except those aged 65 and older.
• Cancer (malignant neoplasms) was a leading cause of death among all Floridians, except those less than 1 year of age.
• Heart disease was a leading cause of death among all Floridians, except those aged less than 1 and aged 5 through 14 years.
• Suicide was a leading cause of death among those aged 10 through 54 years.
• CLRD (chronic lower respiratory disease) was a leading cause of death among those aged 55 and older.
• Stroke (cerebrovascular disease) was a leading cause of death among those age 65 years of age and older.
• Diabetes was a leading cause of death for individuals from 55 through 84 years of age.
• Alzheimer’s disease was a leading cause of death for those 85 years of age and older.