It’s well-understood that Native Americans have some of the worst health outcomes of any racial group in the United States. But how bad is it? Nine of 10 U.S. counties with the highest rates of premature death are located near reservations or places with large concentrations of Natives, according to a Social Explorer analysis of data compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. In Buffalo County, S.D., there were 59 premature deaths, or 29,138 years of life lost per 100,000 people.

Five of the six counties with the highest rates of premature deaths – defined as people who die before reaching 75 years of age – were in South Dakota (Sioux County, N.D., ranked fourth). The next two were in Montana, and No. 10, Kusilvak Census Area in Alaska, has a high percentage of Natives. The only county without a significant Native population in the top 10 was Monroe County, Ark.

Use Social Explorer’s cutting-edge reporting and mapping tools to see how many years of life are lost in your county.

Premature Death Rates Across the U.S.. Click Here to Explore Further.

Author: Frank Bass