Interpretation of Death Rates Data
Death Rate Report for Massachusetts by County
All Cancer Sites, 2018-2022
All Races (includes Hispanic), Both Sexes, Ages 50+
Sorted by Name
Explanation of Column HeadersObjective - The objective of 122.7 is from the Healthy People 2020 project done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Death 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
Massachusetts
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : N/A
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 465.7 with a 95% confidence interval from 462.0 to 469.5 and 12,015 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : N/A
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling
because the trend is -2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.1 to -1.9.
United States
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : N/A
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 490.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 489.9 to 491.0 and 573,761 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : N/A
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.7 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.9 to -1.6.
Barnstable County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 439.6 with a 95% confidence interval from 424.0 to 455.5 and 638 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 11 (7, 13)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -2.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -3.0 to -1.9.
Berkshire County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 482.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 458.5 to 507.3 and 314 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 5 (2, 8)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.5 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.8 to -1.2.
Bristol County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 518.8 with a 95% confidence interval from 505.1 to 532.8 and 1,120 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 1 (1, 3)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.4 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.5 to -1.2.
Dukes County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Rural
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 402.7 with a 95% confidence interval from 347.9 to 463.7 and 41 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 13 (6, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -2.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -4.0 to -2.3.
Essex County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 444.6 with a 95% confidence interval from 433.9 to 455.4 and 1,365 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 9 (7, 13)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -2.4 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.6 to -2.2.
Franklin County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Rural
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 472.7 with a 95% confidence interval from 438.9 to 508.4 and 155 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 6 (2, 12)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.2 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.6 to -0.9.
Hampden County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 511.1 with a 95% confidence interval from 496.0 to 526.6 and 889 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 2 (1, 4)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.3 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.5 to -1.2.
Hampshire County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 450.2 with a 95% confidence interval from 426.3 to 475.2 and 274 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 8 (5, 13)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.5 with a 95% confidence interval from -1.8 to -1.2.
Middlesex County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 435.8 with a 95% confidence interval from 428.0 to 443.7 and 2,439 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 12 (8, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -2.2 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.4 to -2.1.
Nantucket County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Rural
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 383.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 306.4 to 473.4 and 18 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 14 (4, 14)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -3.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -7.7 to -2.8.
Norfolk County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 462.2 with a 95% confidence interval from 450.7 to 473.9 and 1,259 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 7 (5, 9)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.2 to -1.8.
Plymouth County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 507.4 with a 95% confidence interval from 493.7 to 521.4 and 1,068 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 3 (1, 5)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -1.9 with a 95% confidence interval from -2.4 to -1.7.
Suffolk County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 441.1 with a 95% confidence interval from 428.4 to 453.9 and 953 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 10 (7, 13)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -3.4 with a 95% confidence interval from -4.4 to -2.8.
Worcester County
- 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes Φ : Urban
- Met Healthy People Objective of 122.7? : No
- Rate : The death rate is 486.1 with a 95% confidence interval from 474.9 to 497.5 and 1,482 average annual deaths over 2018-2022.
- CI*Rank ⋔ : 4 (3, 6)
- Recent Trend : The trend is falling because the trend is -2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from -3.5 to -1.6.
Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 07/12/2025 7:54 am.
State Cancer Registries may provide more current or more local data.
Trend
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.
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.
† 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 (19 age groups: <1, 1-4, 5-9, ... , 80-84, 85+). 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.
‡ The Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) is based on the APCs calculated by Joinpoint. Due to data availability issues, the time period used in the calculation of the joinpoint regression model may differ for selected counties.
Φ Rural-Urban Continuum Codes provided by the USDA.
Please note that the data comes from different sources. Due to different years of data availability, most of the trends are AAPCs based on APCs but some are APCs calculated in SEER*Stat. Please refer to the source for each graph for additional information.
Data for United States does not include Puerto Rico.