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

In 2020, 17.77% of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as “poor or fair” compared to 13.30% 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 12.8% greater
• Cancer (all sites) mortality is 4.8% lower
• Lung cancer mortality is 9.8% greater
• Colon cancer mortality is 7.8% greater
• Diabetes mortality is 26% greater
• Stroke mortality is 13.5% greater
• COPD mortality is 1.7% lower
• Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 37.8% greater
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 9.6% greater
• Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 5.8% 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 41-county Eastern North Carolina region were a state, it would rank 43rd; above Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and West Virginia.  If the rest of North Carolina (59 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 30th, with a rate most similar to Maryland’s.

The rates and ranks for 2019 are as follows:

¹ North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2020.  95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 15.67 – 19.88 and 11.93 – 14.66, respectively.

² Mortality rates per 100,000 for the year 2019 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (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).