NCHS Data Brief ■ No. 295 ■ January 2018

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

State Variations in Infant Mortality by Race and 

Hispanic Origin of Mother, 2013–2015

T.J. Mathews, M.S., Danielle M. Ely, Ph.D., and Anne K. Driscoll, Ph.D.

Key findings

Data from the National 

Vital Statistics System

• In 2013–2015, the infant

mortality rate by state ranged

from 4.28 per 1,000 live births

in Massachusetts to 9.08 in

Mississippi.

• Among the 50 states and the

District of Columbia (D.C.),

the mortality rate for infants

of non-Hispanic white women

ranged from 2.52 in D.C. to

7.04 in Arkansas.

• For infants of non-Hispanic

black women, the mortality

rate ranged from 8.27 in

Massachusetts to 14.28 in

Wisconsin.

• The mortality rate for infants

of Hispanic women ranged

from 3.94 in Iowa to 7.28 in

Michigan.

Infant mortality has long been a basic measure of public health for countries 

around the world (1–3). While the overall infant mortality rate in the United 

States is lower than a decade ago, declining 14% from 6.86 infant deaths per 

1,000 live births in 2005, a recent high, to 5.90 in 2015, the rate in 2015 was 

not statistically different from that in 2014 (5.82) (4–6). The variability in 

infant mortality rates by state and by race and Hispanic origin continues to 

receive attention (7,8). This report uses linked birth and infant death data from 

2013 through 2015 to describe infant mortality rates in the United States by 

state, and for race and Hispanic-origin groups by state.

Keywords: infant death • infant health • National Vital Statistics System

Infant mortality rates varied by state from 2013 through 2015.

● Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.), Mississippi

had the highest infant mortality rate (9.08 per 1,000 live births) and
NCHS Data Brief ■ No. 295 ■ January 2018

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Massachusetts had the lowest rate (4.28), less than one-half of the highest rate (Figure 1).

● States with an infant mortality rate significantly lower than the U.S. rate (5.89) included:

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska,

Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Vermont,

and Washington.

● There were 21 states with an infant mortality rate significantly higher than the U.S. rate:

Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana,

Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,

Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. D.C. also had an infant

mortality rate higher than the U.S. rate.

In 2013–2015, the lowest mortality rates for infants of non-Hispanic white 

women occurred mostly in states in the West and Northeast.

● The highest mortality rate for infants of non-Hispanic white women among the 50 states and

D.C. was 7.04 per 1,000 live births in Arkansas, and the lowest rate, less than one-half of the

highest rate, was 2.52 in D.C. (Figure 2).

● Ten states had a mortality rate for infants of non-Hispanic white women that was

significantly lower than the national rate (4.95): California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa,

Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Washington. D.C. also

had an infant mortality rate lower than the U.S. rate.
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● Fourteen states had an infant mortality rate that was significantly higher than the U.S. rate:

Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri,

North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

In 2013–2015, five of the nine highest mortality rates for infants of 

non-Hispanic black women were in Midwestern states.

● The highest state mortality rate for infants of non-Hispanic black women was 14.28 per

1,000 live births in Wisconsin, 1.7 times as high as the lowest rate of 8.27 in Massachusetts

(Figure 3).

● Eight states had infant mortality rates significantly lower than the U.S. rate for infants of

non-Hispanic black women (11.10): California, Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey,

New York, Texas, and Washington.

● Seven states had infant mortality rates significantly higher than the U.S. rate: Alabama,

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
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For infants of Hispanic women, the mortality rate in the 50 states and D.C. 

ranged from 3.94 to 7.28 per 1,000 live births in 2013–2015.

● The highest mortality rate for infants of Hispanic women was 7.28 in Michigan, 1.8 times as

high as the lowest rate of 3.94 in Iowa (Figure 4).

● Four states had infant mortality rates significantly lower than the U.S. rate for infants of

Hispanic women (4.99): California, Florida, New Jersey, and New York.

● There were eight states with infant mortality rates significantly higher than the U.S. rate:

Alabama, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
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Summary

In 2013–2015, infant mortality rates in the United States ranged from a low of 4.28 per 1,000 

live births in Massachusetts to a high of 9.08 in Mississippi. For infants of non-Hispanic white 

women, the rates ranged from 2.52 in D.C. to 7.04 in Arkansas, and for infants of Hispanic 

women, the range was from 3.94 in Iowa to 7.28 in Michigan. For infants of non-Hispanic black 

women, the lowest mortality rate of 8.27 in Massachusetts was higher than the highest state rates 

for infants of non-Hispanic white (7.04) and Hispanic (7.28) women. The highest mortality rate 

for infants of non-Hispanic black women was in Wisconsin (14.28). 

Of the three race and Hispanic-origin groups presented in this report, infants of non-Hispanic 

white women had the widest range in rates by state—the highest was 2.8 times as high as the 

lowest. Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio had infant mortality rates that were higher than the national 

rate for each of the three racial and ethnic groups, as well as overall. California, New Jersey, and 

New York had rates that were lower than the national rate for each group and the overall U.S. 

rate.

This report provides recent state-level data that can inform efforts to lessen state and race-specific 

infant mortality rates (5–9).

Definition

Infant mortality rate: The number of infant deaths under age 1 year per 1,000 live births.

Data sources and methods

This report contains data from the period linked birth/infant death data set, which is part of the 

National Vital Statistics System. The period linked birth/infant death data set includes all infant 

deaths under age 1 year reported on death certificates and all live births reported from birth 

certificates. The period linked birth/infant death data set is the primary data set for analyzing 

infant mortality trends and patterns in the United States, and it is also the primary source for 

examining race and Hispanic-origin infant mortality and for examining factors related to birth 

(4,10). Race and Hispanic origin are self-reported by the mother on the birth certificate. For this 

data analysis, 3 years (2013–2015) of data have been combined to allow for more state-specific 

rates to be observed. Rates for states with fewer than 20 infant deaths for the 3 years combined 

are not calculated due to insufficient reliability (10). This impacts 10 states for infants of nonHispanic black women and 9 states for infants of Hispanic women. Linked birth/infant death data 

sets are available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm.

References to rates being significantly higher or lower indicate that differences are statistically 

significant at the 0.05 level (10). For some states, there appear to be observed differences 

compared with the U.S. rate; however, these differences were not statistically significant and so, 

are not mentioned in the text.
NCHS Data Brief ■ No. 295 ■ January 2018

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About the authors

T.J. Mathews, Danielle M. Ely, and Anne K. Driscoll are with the National Center for Health 

Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics, Reproductive Statistics Branch.

References

1. MacDorman MF, Mathews TJ, Mohangoo AD, Zeitlin J. International comparisons of infant

mortality and related factors: United States and Europe, 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports;

vol 63 no 5. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014.

2. Singh GK, Kogan MD. Persistent socioeconomic disparities in infant, neonatal, and

postneonatal mortality rates in the United States, 1969–2001. Pediatrics 119(4):e928–39. 2007.

3. Jacob JA. US infant mortality rate declines but still exceeds other developed countries. JAMA

315(5):451–2. 2016.

4. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Tejada-Vera B. Deaths: Final data for 2014. National

Vital Statistics Reports; vol 65 no 4. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2016.

5. Mathews TJ, Driscoll AK. Trends in infant mortality in the United States, 2005–2014. NCHS

Data Brief, no 279. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2017.

6. Brown Speights JS, Goldfarb SS, Wells BA, Beitsch L, Levine RS, Rust G. State-level

progress in reducing the black-white infant mortality gap, United States, 1999–2013. Am J Public

Health 107(5):775–82. 2017.

7. Rossen LM, Khan D, Schoendorf KC. Mapping geographic variation in infant mortality and

related black-white disparities in the US. Epidemiology 27(5):690–6. 2016.

8. Cradle Cincinnati. Available from: http://www.cradlecincinnati.org/.

9. The Washington Post. Group sees gap in black-white infant mortality. January 6, 1984.

10. Mathews TJ, MacDorman MF, Thoma ME. Infant mortality statistics from the 2013 period

linked birth/infant death data set. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 64 no 9. Hyattsville, MD:

National Center for Health Statistics. 2015.

NCHS Data Brief ■ No. 295 ■ January 2018

Suggested citation

Mathews TJ, Ely DM, Driscoll AK. State 

variations in infant mortality by race and 

Hispanic origin of mother, 2013–2015. 

NCHS Data Brief, no 295. Hyattsville, MD: 

National Center for Health Statistics. 2018.

Copyright information

All material appearing in this report is in 

the public domain and may be reproduced 

or copied without permission; citation as to 

source, however, is appreciated.

National Center for Health 

Statistics

Charles J. Rothwell, M.S., M.B.A., 

Director

Jennifer H. Madans, Ph.D., Associate 

Director for Science 

Division of Vital Statistics

Delton Atkinson, M.P.H., M.P.H., P.M.P., 

Director

Hanyu Ni, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate 

Director for Science

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