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

In 2020, 18.95% of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as “poor or fair” compared to 13.09% 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 15% greater
• Cancer (all sites) mortality is 2.9% greater
• Lung cancer mortality is 11.6% greater
• Colon cancer mortality is 14.0% greater
• Diabetes mortality is 34.3% greater
• Stroke mortality is 20.2% greater
• COPD mortality is 2.7% lower
• Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 31.8% greater
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 15% greater
• Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 3.6% greater

In terms of premature mortality (i.e., years of life lost before age 75), the 2019 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 44th; above Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and West Virginia. If the rest of North Carolina (71 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 33rd, with a rate most similar to Michigan.

The rates and ranks for 2016 are as follows:

¹ North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2020. Statistically significant at p=.05, 95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 15.62 – 22.28 and 12.63 – 15.06, respectively.

² Mortality rates per 100,000 for the year 2019 (from NC SCHS’s Vital Statistics accessed via UNC-Chapel Hill’s Odum Institute).

³ State and US Premature mortality (before age 75) rates per 10,000 for the year 2019 (from America’s Health Rankings analysis of CDC WONDER multiple cause of Death files). NC region estimates for 2019 (from NC SCHS’s Vital Statistics accessed via UNC-Chapel Hill’s Odum Institute).