COVID-19 Falls Out of Top 10 Killer List in US

The U.S. death rate in 2024 has returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC reported nearly 3.1 million deaths overall last year.

Heart disease and cancer accounted for more than 40% of those deaths, while drug overdoses and other unintentional injuries were the third-leading cause of death. COVID-19 was still responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, but for the first time since the pandemic began, it fell out of the nation's top 10 leading causes of death.

In 2023, there were nearly 3.1 million deaths that occurred in the U.S., with 76,446 attributed to COVID-19. In 2022, there were 245,614 deaths attributed to COVID-19, making it the fourth-leading cause of death.

Heart disease was attributed to 683,037 deaths, followed by cancer with 619,812 deaths and unintentional injuries following with 194,488 fatalities. The top 10 leading causes of death in 2024 were:

1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Unintentional injury
4. Stroke
5. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
6. Alzheimer's disease
7. Diabetes
8. Kidney disease
9. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
10. Suicide