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Interpretation of Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer Data

Death Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer, 2019-2023

Virginia Counties versus United States

All Cancer Sites

All Races, Both Sexes

Sorted by count

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:

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


Line by Line Interpretation of the Report


United States


Virginia


Fairfax County


Virginia Beach City


Henrico County


Chesterfield County


Prince William County


Chesapeake City


Norfolk City


Loudoun County


Richmond City


Newport News City


Hampton City


Roanoke City


Hanover County


Spotsylvania County


Arlington County


Portsmouth City


Roanoke County


Stafford County


Bedford City and County


Frederick County


Albemarle County


James City County


Suffolk City


Rockingham County


Augusta County


Alexandria City


Pittsylvania County


Lynchburg City


Washington County


Henry County


Fauquier County


Danville City


Montgomery County


Franklin County


Campbell County


Shenandoah County


Tazewell County


York County


Halifax County with South Boston City


Wise County


Culpeper County


Gloucester County


Accomack County


Orange County


Smyth County


Petersburg City


Mecklenburg County


Warren County


Isle of Wight County


Louisa County


Botetourt County


Pulaski County


Carroll County


Amherst County


Russell County


Wythe County


Lee County


Staunton City


Dinwiddie County


Scott County


Page County


Salem City


Buchanan County


Fairfax City


Caroline County


Prince George County


Patrick County


Charlottesville City


Waynesboro City


Rockbridge County


Hopewell City


Powhatan County


Harrisonburg City


Fluvanna County


Goochland County


New Kent County


Winchester City


Westmoreland County


Colonial Heights City


Manassas City


Prince Edward County


Bristol City


Giles County


Lancaster County


King George County


Grayson County


Southampton County


Brunswick County


Nelson County


Buckingham County


Northumberland County


Nottoway County


Dickenson County


Alleghany County and Clifton Forge City


Fredericksburg City


Martinsville City


Floyd County


King William County


Middlesex County


Clarke County


Appomattox County


Greene County


Amelia County


Northampton County


Lunenburg County


Charlotte County


Madison County


Sussex County


Greensville County


Essex County


Poquoson City


Franklin City


Mathews County


Cumberland County


Falls Church City


Williamsburg City


Richmond County


Galax City


King and Queen County


Radford City


Charles City County


Surry County


Rappahannock County


Bland County


Covington City


Craig County


Buena Vista City


Bath County


Emporia City


Norton City


Lexington City


Manassas Park City


Highland County




Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/18/2026 1:17 am.

Trend2
     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.
Rate Comparison
     Above     when 95% confident the rate is above and Rate Ratio3 > 1.10
     Similar     when unable to conclude above or below with confidence.
     Below     when 95% confident the rate is below and Rate Ratio3 < 0.90

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.