2007 KIDS COUNT Data Book Online >
Summary and Findings
Teen Death Rate
As people move into their middle and late teenage years, they encounter many new risks that can cost them their life. The Teen Death Rate reflects deaths among 15- to 19-year-olds (deaths per 100,000 teens in this age group) from all causes. It is worth noting that deaths from accidents, homicides, and suicides accounted for 76 percent of all deaths in this age group in 2004.
Accidents continue to account for at least three times as many teen deaths as any other single cause, including homicide. Most of the lethal accidents are automobile accidents. In 2004, 6,825 teens died due to accidents (5,224 deaths were due to motor vehicle accidents), 1,932 teen deaths were due to homicide, and 1,700 teen deaths were due to suicide.
- In 2004, 13,706 Americans ages 15–19 died, and this amounts to an average of 37 teen deaths each day. Virtually all of these deaths were preventable.
- The Teen Death Rate inched downward from 67 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2000 to 66 deaths per 100,000 in 2004. The Teen Death Rate did not change between 2003 and 2004. It had been steadily declining since 1990.
- Between 2000 and 2004, the Teen Death Rate declined in 25 states, increased in 21 states (and the District of Columbia), and remained unchanged in 4. n Among the states, the Teen Death Rate in 2004 ranged from a low of 40 in Hawaii to a high of 111 in Alaska.
- The Teen Death Rate for American Indians and Alaskan Natives is more than 30 percent higher than the national average. The rate for African Americans is almost as high—about 22 percent higher than the overall U.S. rate.
