State Cancer Profiles

Interpretation of Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer Data

Death Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer, 2019-2023

Maine Counties versus United States

All Cancer Sites

All Races, Both Sexes

Sorted by priority index

Explanation of Column Headers

State/County - The site and sex combination for this comparison.

Priority Index ¹ - The priority index is based upon the direction of the trend and the rate comparison. An index of 1 is the highest priority - that trend is rising and the rate is already higher. An index of 9 is the lowest priority - the trend is falling and the rate is already lower.

Recent Trends - This is an interpretation of the AAPC:

• Rising when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is above 0.
• Stable when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change includes 0.
• Falling when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is below 0.

AAPC (95% Confidence Interval) - The Average Annual Percent Change is the change in rate over time. These AAPCs are based upon APCs that were calculated by Joinpoint Regression Program

Other Notes

• Larger confidence intervals indicate less stability of the data. This is often due to low counts that are not quite low enough to be suppressed.
• Data is currently being suppressed if there are fewer than 16 counts for the time period.

Line by Line Interpretation of the Report

United States

• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.5 to -1.2.
• Rate : The death rate is 145.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 145.2 to 145.6 and 605,771 average annual deaths.

Maine

• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.4 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.5 to -1.3.
• Rate : The death rate is 159.1 with a 95% confidence interval from 156.7 to 161.6 and 3,419 average annual deaths.

Piscataquis County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 4.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is stable because the trend is -0.8 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.7 to 0.2.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 184.2 with a 95% confidence interval from 162.4 to 208.7 and 58 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.3

Androscoggin County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.7 to -0.9.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 161.5 with a 95% confidence interval from 152.5 to 171.1 and 250 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Aroostook County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.1 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.8 to -0.5.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 166.9 with a 95% confidence interval from 156.4 to 178.0 and 204 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Kennebec County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.4 to -0.6.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 169.5 with a 95% confidence interval from 161.0 to 178.3 and 321 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.2

Lincoln County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.2 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.1 to -0.3.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 164.9 with a 95% confidence interval from 151.1 to 180.0 and 117 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Oxford County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.5 with a 95% confidence interval from -3.0 to -1.2.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 162.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 150.8 to 174.8 and 159 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Penobscot County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.4 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.8 to -1.0.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 164.8 with a 95% confidence interval from 157.1 to 172.8 and 365 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Somerset County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -0.7 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.3 to -0.1.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 187.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 173.4 to 201.6 and 151 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.3

Waldo County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -0.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.4 to -0.3.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 173.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 158.2 to 188.9 and 112 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.2

Washington County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 5.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -0.8 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.4 to -0.2.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is higher compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 201.8 with a 95% confidence interval from 183.9 to 221.1 and 107 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.4

Cumberland County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 8.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.3 to -1.7.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 141.9 with a 95% confidence interval from 136.9 to 147.1 and 630 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.0

Franklin County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 8.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.2 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.0 to -0.4.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 154.3 with a 95% confidence interval from 138.4 to 171.9 and 75 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Hancock County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 8.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.8 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.5 to -1.1.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 151.7 with a 95% confidence interval from 140.4 to 163.8 and 149 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.0

Knox County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 8.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.9 to -0.7.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 153.7 with a 95% confidence interval from 140.8 to 167.8 and 115 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Sagadahoc County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 8.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.4 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.2 to -0.6.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 143.8 with a 95% confidence interval from 130.7 to 158.1 and 93 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.0

York County

• Priority Index(1) : The priority index is 8.
• Recent Trend(2) : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.4 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.7 to -1.1.
• County Death Rate Compared to US Rate : This death rate is similar compared to the US rate
• Rate : The death rate is 155.8 with a 95% confidence interval from 149.7 to 162.2 and 515 average annual deaths.
• Rate Ratio(3) County to US : The rate ratio is 1.1

Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/22/2026 1:15 pm.


¹ Priority indices were created by ordering from rates that are rising and above the comparison rate to rates that are falling and below the comparison rate.
² Recent trend in death rates is usually an Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) based on the APCs calculated by Joinpoint. Due to data availability issues, the time period and/or calculation method used in the calculation of the trends may differ for selected geographic areas.
³ Rate ratio is the county rate divided by the US rate. Previous versions of this table used one-year rates for states and five-year rates for counties. As of June 2018, only five-year rates are used.
Source: Death data provided by the National Vital Statistics System public use data file. Death rates calculated by the National Cancer Institute using SEER*Stat. Death rates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population (20 age groups: <1, 1-4, 5-9, ... , 80-84, 85-89, 90+). The Healthy People 2030 goals are based on rates adjusted using different methods but the differences should be minimal. Population counts for denominators are based on Census populations as modified by NCI. The US Population Data File is used with mortality data.
Note: When the population size for a denominator is small, the rates may be unstable. A rate is unstable when a small change in the numerator (e.g., only one or two additional cases) has a dramatic effect on the calculated rate. Suppression is used to avoid misinterpretation when rates are unstable.

State Cancer Registries may provide more current or more local data. Data presented on the State Cancer Profiles Web Site may differ from statistics reported by the State Cancer Registries (for more information).

Interpret Rankings provides insight into interpreting cancer statistics. When the population size for a denominator is small, the rates may be unstable. A rate is unstable when a small change in the numerator (e.g., only one or two additional cases) has a dramatic effect on the calculated rate.

Data for United States do not include Puerto Rico.