Fire death rates by state

Report: NFPA's "US Fire Death Rates by State"
Author: Marty Ahrens
Issued: December 2021

Report & Tables

US Fire Death Rates by State

This report discusses the demographic factors associated with higher state fire death rates. Sources include death certificate data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics and accessed through Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) query programs, WISQARS™ and WONDER, demographic data from the US Census and its American Community Survey and CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Data about specific states are available from the tool below and in the accompanying tables.

Download the report

Tables*

These tables support the report.

Download the tables

Report highlights

• Fire death rates vary considerably by state, with 2015–2019 average deaths rates per million population ranging from a low of 4.7 to a high of 23.7. The US average was 10.0.
• Nine of the ten states with the highest overall fire death rates in 2015–2019 were in the South.
• Only four states had more fire deaths in 2015–2019 than in 1981-1985. All states had lower fire death rates in 2015-2019 than in 1981-1985.

Use the “Compare Fire Death Rates by State” tool below to summarize the information for up to five  states or to compare data with the whole US and one to four selected states.