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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 rateratio

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


Galax City


Franklin City


Fairfax City


Martinsville City


Norton City


Petersburg City


Greensville County


Wise County


Danville City


Hopewell City


Sussex County


Lee County


Smyth County


Colonial Heights City


Nottoway County


Buchanan County


Waynesboro City


Prince Edward County


Covington City


Dickenson County


Patrick County


Craig County


Portsmouth City


Roanoke City


Russell County


Halifax County with South Boston City


King and Queen County


Tazewell County


Giles County


Charlotte County


Brunswick County


Lynchburg City


Cumberland County


Orange County


Bristol City


New Kent County


Scott County


Salem City


Bath County


Staunton City


Lancaster County


Buckingham County


Norfolk City


Warren County


Wythe County


Dinwiddie County


Emporia City


Shenandoah County


Page County


Lunenburg County


Essex County


Gloucester County


Mecklenburg County


Newport News City


Amelia County


Grayson County


Radford City


Richmond County


Accomack County


King William County


Washington County


Henry County


Falls Church City


Fredericksburg City


Isle of Wight County


Hampton City


Nelson County


Mathews County


Surry County


Buena Vista City


Pittsylvania County


Amherst County


King George County


Suffolk City


Chesapeake City


Southampton County


Frederick County


Poquoson City


Caroline County


Louisa County


Winchester City


Alleghany County and Clifton Forge City


Culpeper County


Bedford City and County


Manassas City


Middlesex County


Carroll County


Pulaski County


Madison County


Westmoreland County


Bland County


Floyd County


Prince George County


Hanover County


Appomattox County


Campbell County


Franklin County


Charles City County


Fauquier County


Botetourt County


Williamsburg City


Clarke County


Henrico County


Richmond City


Virginia Beach City


Stafford County


Northumberland County


Northampton County


Rockingham County


Chesterfield County


Lexington City


Spotsylvania County


Rockbridge County


Augusta County


Charlottesville City


Harrisonburg City


Montgomery County


Fluvanna County


Roanoke County


Goochland County


Powhatan County


Greene County


Prince William County


Highland County


James City County


York County


Rappahannock County


Alexandria City


Albemarle County


Loudoun County


Arlington County


Fairfax County


Manassas Park City




Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/20/2026 8:10 pm.

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.