U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Vital Statistics of the United States, Volume II-Mortality, Part A, various years and Monthly Vital Statistics vol. The death rates of young adults 15 to 24 years old generally declined between 1970 and 1985 and have fluctuated since then. Young men have died each year at nearly triple the rate of young women since the late 1980s. Also, between 1950 and 1993, the decline in the death rate for women was much larger than that for men.
Death rates are higher for blacks than for whites, especially among men.