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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, Female

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:

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


Albemarle County


Alexandria City


Arlington County


Fairfax County


Greene County


James City County


Loudoun County


Manassas Park City


Powhatan County


Prince William County


York County


Accomack County


Alleghany County and Clifton Forge City


Bedford City and County


Brunswick County


Campbell County


Caroline County


Charles City County


Charlottesville City


Chesterfield County


Clarke County


Culpeper County


Fluvanna County


Frederick County


Fredericksburg City


Goochland County


Grayson County


Henrico County


King George County


Louisa County


Montgomery County


Northampton County


Pittsylvania County


Pulaski County


Richmond City


Roanoke County


Rockbridge County


Rockingham County


Southampton County


Spotsylvania County


Stafford County


Suffolk City


Virginia Beach City


Westmoreland County


Winchester City


Amelia County


Amherst County


Appomattox County


Bath County


Bland County


Botetourt County


Buckingham County


Buena Vista City


Carroll County


Charlotte County


Covington City


Craig County


Cumberland County


Dinwiddie County


Emporia City


Essex County


Fauquier County


Floyd County


Franklin County


Gloucester County


Harrisonburg City


Isle of Wight County


King William County


King and Queen County


Lancaster County


Lexington City


Lunenburg County


Madison County


Manassas City


Mathews County


Middlesex County


Nelson County


Northumberland County


Page County


Poquoson City


Prince George County


Radford City


Rappahannock County


Richmond County


Surry County


Sussex County


Warren County


Williamsburg City


Chesapeake City


Galax City


Hampton City


Hanover County


Newport News City


Norfolk City


Orange County


Portsmouth City


Bristol City


Buchanan County


Colonial Heights City


Dickenson County


Franklin City


Giles County


Greensville County


Halifax County with South Boston City


Henry County


Hopewell City


Lee County


Lynchburg City


Martinsville City


Mecklenburg County


New Kent County


Norton City


Nottoway County


Patrick County


Petersburg City


Prince Edward County


Roanoke City


Russell County


Salem City


Scott County


Shenandoah County


Smyth County


Staunton City


Tazewell County


Washington County


Waynesboro City


Wise County


Wythe County


Augusta County


Falls Church City


Danville City


Fairfax City


Highland County

Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/14/2026 3:08 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

* Data has been suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate and trend estimates.
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).

Data for the following has been suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate and trend estimates:
Highland County

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.