The U.S. death rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels, with COVID-19 no longer among the nation’s top 10 causes of death, according to new federal data.
A report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics shows the national death rate fell 3.8 percent in 2024, dropping from 750.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023 to 722 per 100,000. That marks the lowest level since 2019, when the rate was 715.2. Deaths surged in 2020 to 835.4 per 100,000 as the pandemic began, with COVID ranked as the third-leading cause.
“Ever since it came onto the scene in 2020, COVID was one of the top 10 leading causes of death,” said Farida Ahmad, the report’s lead author. “In 2024, we see that it’s not ranked at all.”
The top three causes of death remain heart disease, cancer, and unintentional injury. Suicide, with more than 48,000 deaths last year, replaced COVID as the 10th-leading cause. The suicide rate has climbed for two decades, reaching 14.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2022 before leveling.
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