Interpretation of Death Rates Data
Death Rate Report for Massachusetts by County
All Cancer Sites, 2019-2023
All Races (includes Hispanic), Male, All Ages
Sorted by CI*Rank
Explanation of Column HeadersDeath Rate (95% Confidence Interval) - The death rate is based upon 100,000 people and is for 5 year(s). Rates are age-adjusted by 5-year age groups to the 2000 U.S. standard million population (the Healthy People 2020 goals are based on rates adjusted using different methods but the differences should be minimal).
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
Bristol County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 185.6 with a 95% confidence interval from 178.8 to 192.5 and 612 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 1 (1, 4)
Hampden County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 179.6 with a 95% confidence interval from 172.2 to 187.2 and 476 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 2 (1, 5)
Berkshire County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 178.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 166.4 to 191.1 and 179 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 3 (1, 7)
Plymouth County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 177.3 with a 95% confidence interval from 170.7 to 184.2 and 579 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 4 (1, 6)
Hampshire County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 169.1 with a 95% confidence interval from 157.0 to 181.9 and 157 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 5 (1, 10)
Worcester County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 169.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 163.6 to 174.5 and 801 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 6 (3, 8)
Norfolk County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 159.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 153.5 to 164.7 and 654 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 7 (6, 11)
Franklin County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Rural
- Rate : The death rate is 156.5 with a 95% confidence interval from 140.4 to 174.1 and 79 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 8 (3, 14)
Essex County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 156.2 with a 95% confidence interval from 151.0 to 161.5 and 724 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 9 (6, 12)
Barnstable County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 155.3 with a 95% confidence interval from 147.6 to 163.5 and 339 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 10 (6, 13)
Suffolk County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 152.9 with a 95% confidence interval from 146.8 to 159.2 and 504 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 11 (7, 13)
Middlesex County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Rate : The death rate is 148.9 with a 95% confidence interval from 145.2 to 152.7 and 1,273 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 12 (10, 14)
Dukes County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Rural
- Rate : The death rate is 142.7 with a 95% confidence interval from 116.3 to 174.1 and 23 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 13 (3, 14)
Nantucket County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Rural
- Rate : The death rate is 128.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 94.4 to 170.7 and 10 average annual counts over 2019-2023.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 14 (3, 14)
Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 06/17/2026 6:49 pm.
State Cancer Registries may provide more current or more local data.
† 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+).
Population counts for denominators are based on Census populations as modified by NCI.
The US Population Data File is used with mortality data.
⋔ Results presented with the CI*Rank statistics help show the usefulness of ranks. For example, ranks for relatively rare diseases or less populated areas may be essentially meaningless because of their large variability, but ranks for more common diseases in densely populated regions can be very useful. More information about methodology can be found on the CI*Rank website.
When displaying county information, the CI*Rank for the state is not shown because it's not comparable. To see the state CI*Rank please view the statistics at the US By State level.
Φ Rural–urban county classifications are based on the 2023 USDA Rural–Urban Continuum Codes (except for Connecticut Counties which use 2013 codes). State-level cancer rates for rural areas are calculated using cancer cases registered exclusively in rural counties, while state-level cancer rates for urban areas are calculated using cases registered exclusively in urban counties.
Data for United States does not include Puerto Rico.