The 12 States Where Death Rates Climbed in December

President Joe Biden might have declared that the COVID-19 public health emergency will end May 11, but COVID-19, flu, homicide, opioid use and other dangers continue to keep the U.S. death rate high. The United States recorded about 2.74 million deaths in December 2022, according to preliminary federal COVID-19 Community Profile Report figures, which are subject to revision and likely to increase. That was higher than the number of deaths — 2.6 million — that occurred during a mini-wave of deaths that lasted from July 2022 through August 2022, and it was the highest since March 2022 when the terrible wave of COVID-19 that filled hospitals throughout the United States in January 2022 ebbed. For a look at the 12 states with the biggest increases in the number of deaths between March 2022 and December 2022, see the gallery. For data from all 50 states and other jurisdictions included in the Community Profile Report state data, see the table below.

	Deaths from all causes
	December 2022	March 2022	Change
Alabama..	..4,722..	..5,007..	..-5.7%..
Alaska..	..361..	..447..	..-19.2%..
Arizona..	..6,449..	..6,332..	..+1.8%..
Arkansas..	..3,139..	..3,176..	..-1.2%..
California..	..26,965..	..25,529..	..+5.6%..
Colorado..	..3,980..	..3,923..	..+1.5%..
Connecticut..	..3,185..	..2,772..	..+14.9%..
Delaware..	..941..	..938..	..+0.3%..
District of Columbia..	..498..	..559..	..-10.9%..
Florida..	..19,333..	..20,501..	..-5.7%..
Georgia..	..7,401..	..8,351..	..-11.4%..
Hawaii..	..1,041..	..1,025..	..+1.6%..
Idaho..	..1,457..	..1,385..	..+5.2%..
Illinois..	..10,418..	..9,488..	..+9.8%..
Indiana..	..6,199..	..6,124..	..+1.2%..
Iowa..	..2,867..	..2,756..	..+4.0%..
Kansas..	..2,651..	..2,579..	..+2.8%..
Kentucky..	..4,234..	..4,801..	..-11.8%..
Louisiana..	..2,976..	..4,401..	..-32.4%..
Maine..	..1,531..	..1,407..	..+8.8%..
Maryland..	..4,515..	..4,575..	..-1.3%..
Massachusetts..	..5,622..	..5,123..	..+9.7%..
Michigan..	..8,961..	..8,802..	..+1.8%..
Minnesota..	..4,148..	..4,139..	..+0.2%..
Mississippi..	..2,929..	..3,027..	..-3.2%..
Missouri..	..5,920..	..6,005..	..-1.4%..
Montana..	..906..	..998..	..-9.2%..
Nebraska..	..1,545..	..1,544..	..+0.1%..
Nevada..	..2,501..	..2,623..	..-4.7%..
New Hampshire..	..1,234..	..1,168..	..+5.7%..
New Jersey..	..7,054..	..6,446..	..+9.4%..
New Mexico..	..1,780..	..1,919..	..-7.2%..
New York..	..10,141..	..8,971..	..+13.0%..
New York City..	..5,503..	..4,679..	..+17.6%..
North Carolina..	..9,138..	..8,790..	..+4.0%..
North Dakota..	..632..	..636..	..-0.6%..
Ohio..	..11,769..	..11,181..	..+5.3%..
Oklahoma..	..3,625..	..3,946..	..-8.1%..
Oregon..	..3,806..	..3,631..	..+4.8%..
Pennsylvania..	..12,733..	..12,045..	..+5.7%..
Puerto Rico..	..2,940..	..2,720..	..+8.1%..
Rhode Island..	..946..	..878..	..+7.7%..
South Carolina..	..5,032..	..4,811..	..+4.6%..
South Dakota..	..692..	..734..	..-5.7%..
Tennessee..	..7,212..	..7,392..	..-2.4%..
Texas..	..19,207..	..20,438..	..-6.0%..
Utah..	..1,998..	..1,907..	..+4.8%..
Vermont..	..519..	..538..	..-3.5%..
Virginia..	..6,713..	..6,730..	..-0.3%..
Washington..	..5,977..	..5,503..	..+8.6%..
West Virginia..	..2,341..	..2,372..	..-1.3%..
Wisconsin..	..5,137..	..4,878..	..+5.3%..
Wyoming..	..423..	..434..	..-2.5%..
TOTAL..	..273,947....	..271,084..	..+1.1%..
MEDIAN..	....	....	..+1.2%..

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. (Photo: Katherine Welles/Shutterstock)