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In the CDC’s latest state comparison, based on 2024 final mortality data, Alaska’s age-adjusted accidental-death rate is 91.4 deaths per 100,000 people and West Virginia’s is 87.6. Those are the two state figures available here; they do not establish a complete ranking of the highest-rate states. The CDC defines “accidents” as unintentional injuries.

What the CDC figures show

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reports Alaska at 91.4 accidental deaths per 100,000 people, with 675 deaths, and West Virginia at 87.6 per 100,000, with 1,681 deaths. The figures are age-adjusted rates from 2024 mortality data. The CDC’s state rankings, when displayed, are ordered from highest rate to lowest rate. NCHS Accident Mortality | Stats of the States

The available CDC table information supports these two values, but not a complete rate-sorted list of states. It would therefore be misleading to call them a verified first and second place or to supply a top-five ranking. The exact leading-state sequence should be taken from the complete current CDC table.

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What “accidental death rate” means

In this comparison, “accident” means death from an unintentional injury. It is a mortality measure—not a tally of all accidents, injuries, crashes, or nonfatal events. The rate is deaths per 100,000 total population and is age-adjusted. The data come from the 2024 National Vital Statistics System death records compiled in CDC WONDER. NCHS Accident Mortality | Stats of the States

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Rate and death count answer different questions

A rate helps compare populations of different sizes; a death count tells how many deaths were recorded. Alaska’s rate is higher than West Virginia’s in the displayed figures, while West Virginia’s count is larger: 1,681 versus 675. Neither number substitutes for the other. When quoting a state comparison, give the year, the age-adjusted rate and its unit, and the death count separately.

How to interpret state differences

Age adjustment accounts for differences in age distribution and population size, making comparisons more useful than raw counts alone. It does not explain why rates differ or control for every factor that may affect them. NCHS cautions that state comparisons do not account for other state-specific population characteristics that may affect death rates. A high rate alone does not establish an individual’s risk or show that a particular policy or behavior caused the difference. NCHS Accident Mortality | Stats of the States

Rankings also need care when the number of deaths is small: the CDC warns that differences and rankings may be unreliable in those cases. NCHS Accident Mortality | Stats of the States

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What the overall category does—and does not—tell you

An all-accident rate combines different kinds of unintentional injury. It should not be treated as a motor-vehicle fatality rate, an overdose rate, or a measure of all injury deaths. CDC WONDER allows mortality data to be examined by underlying cause, injury intent, and mechanism, with counts, crude and age-adjusted rates, confidence intervals, and standard errors. A mechanism-specific comparison should keep the geography, year, and rate definition consistent. CDC WONDER Data Summary Descriptions

For national context, unintentional injuries remained among the three leading causes of death in 2024; that national finding does not explain any individual state’s rate. Mortality in the United States, 2024

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