Deaths From Cold and Hypothermia Rise With Age and Run Higher Outside Metro Areas

From 2015 to 2017, the U.S. death rate from excessive cold or hypothermia among people 15 and older rose steadily with age — and in every age group it was higher in nonmetropolitan counties than in metropolitan ones.

Death rates from excessive cold or hypothermia, ages 15 and older, 2015–2017; bars show crude rates with 95% confidence intervals. Image from CDC's report

How the deaths were counted

• Cause: death certificates with the underlying cause "exposure to excessive natural cold" or listing hypothermia among the causes.
• Urban or rural: by the Office of Management and Budget's February 2013 definitions. A metropolitan statistical area needs at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more people; everywhere else is nonmetropolitan.
• Data: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System mortality data, 2015–2017.

Sources

Based on Merianne R. Spencer, "QuickStats: Death Rates Attributed to Excessive Cold or Hypothermia Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years, by Urbanization Level and Age Group — National Vital Statistics System, 2015–2017," MMWR, volume 68, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.