29-County Eastern North Carolina Compared to the Rest of the State, 2017 (revised 06/15/20)

In 2017, 23.09 of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as “poor or fair” compared to 18.47% of citizens in the rest of the state.¹

Age-adjusted death rates are substantially greater in Eastern North Carolina than the rest of the state for virtually all major causes of death.²

• Heart disease mortality is 13.8% greater
• Cancer (all sites) mortality is 6.5% greater
• Lung cancer mortality is 16.4% greater
• Colon cancer mortality is 5.5% greater
• Diabetes mortality is 25.6% greater
• Stroke mortality is 15.0% greater
• COPD mortality is 1.2% lower
• Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 9.1% greater
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 16.1% greater
• Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 4.9% greater

In terms of premature mortality (i.e., years of life lost before age 75), the 2016 US data³ indicate North Carolina ranks 34th among the 50 states.

If the 29-county Eastern North Carolina region were a state, it would rank 42nd; above Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and West Virginia. If the rest of North Carolina (71 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 31st, with a rate most similar to Delaware.

The rates and ranks for 2016 are as follows:

¹ North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2017. Statistically significant at p=.05, 95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 19.71 – 26.87 and 16.90 – 20.15, respectively.

² Mortality rates per 100,000 for the year 2017 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (from NC SCHS’s Vital Statistics accessed via UNC-Chapel Hill’s Odum Institute).

³ Premature mortality (before age 75) rates per 10,000 for the year 2016 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (from NCHS’s Compressed Mortality Files 1999-2016).