US homicide deaths by race, 1999 to 2020
US homicide deaths by race stood at 4 in 2020, up 21.9% on the previous period.
US homicide deaths by race, expressed as deaths per 100,000 population from death certificates compiled in CDC WONDER. Mortality data is the hardest of health statistics: every underlying record is a certified death, coded to standard cause-of-death categories, and the per-population rate makes groups and years directly comparable. Since 1999 the series has ranged from 2.90 (2014) to 3.90 (2020); the latest reading is 3.90 for 2020, up from 3.20 the period before.
Rates differ sharply across groups, and the gaps move over time: comparing the lines is the point of the breakdown. Because these are per-100,000 rates, group population sizes are already accounted for.
Are these counts or rates?
Are recent years final?
What do these categories mean?
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