According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deaths caused by drug overdose have hit an all-time high in the United States, jumping 7 percent in just one year and killing over 40,000 Americans in 2014.
The problem can largely be attributed to the rapid rise in the abuse of opioids, including both prescription pain relievers and heroin.
The below visualization shows drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 people in counties across the U.S. States with the highest concentrations of overdoses include: Kentucky, West Virginia, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Historically, large metropolitan areas have the highest rates of drug overdoses, however, that is no longer the case. More deaths from drug overdoses are occurring today in rural and suburban areas.
The Appalachian region in particular (including Kentucky and West Virginia) has been stricken with high rates of overdose deaths for over a decade, mostly because of workplace-related injuries that are treated with opioid-based painkillers. New Mexico has experienced high heroin overdose rates since the early 1990s, and the issue continues to worsen.
The drug overdose epidemic is sweeping the nation and tearing communities and families apart. To help Americans understand how drug overdoses are affecting their communities, HealthGrove set out to investigate which states and counties are the most affected by drug overdose. Using the most recent data from the CDC, HealthGrove ranked the percent of state populations that live in counties with high overdose death rates. A high overdose death rate is defined as over 20 deaths per 100,000 people. We've ranked the 20 states with the highest percentage of people living in high overdose counties, and sorted them from lowest to highest. On each slide, we include the relevant state map of drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 people.
Note: The CDC reports drug poisoning deaths in ranges, so the HealthGrove team mapped drug poisoning deaths in relation to population density to rank this list.
#20. North Carolina
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 17.11% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 27.00% Population: 9,651,380 Number of Counties in State: 100
#19. Ohio
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 17.32% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 15.91% Population: 11,549,590 Number of Counties in State: 88
#18. Missouri
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 19.05% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 14.78% Population: 6,007,182 Number of Counties in State: 115
#17. Alaska
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 21.54% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 13.79% Population: 720,316 Number of Counties in State: 29
#16. Oregon
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 21.68% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 11.11% Population: 3,868,721 Number of Counties in State: 36
#15. Massachusetts
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 22.73% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 21.43% Population: 6,605,058 Number of Counties in State: 14
#14. Louisiana
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 25.51% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 12.50% Population: 4,567,968 Number of Counties in State: 64
#13. Colorado
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 25.76% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 18.75% Population: 5,119,329 Number of Counties in State: 64
#12. Maryland
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 26.31% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 12.50% Population: 5,834,299 Number of Counties in State: 24
#11. Tennessee
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 32.00% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 46.32% Population: 6,402,387 Number of Counties in State: 95
#10. Pennsylvania
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 36.57% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 14.93% Population: 12,731,381 Number of Counties in State: 67
#9. Kentucky
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 38.71% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 51.67% Population: 4,361,333 Number of Counties in State: 120
#8. Florida
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 43.40% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 35.82% Population: 19,091,156 Number of Counties in State: 67
#7. West Virginia
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 61.53% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 49.09% Population: 1,853,619 Number of Counties in State: 55
#6. Oklahoma
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 62.73% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 51.95% Population: 3,785,742 Number of Counties in State: 77
#5. New Mexico
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 63.48% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 63.64% Population: 2,069,706 Number of Counties in State: 33
#4. Rhode Island
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 75.41% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 40.00% Population: 1,051,695 Number of Counties in State: 5
#3. Utah
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 78.45% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 58.62% Population: 2,813,673 Number of Counties in State: 29
#2. Arizona
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 84.43% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 46.67% Population: 6,479,703 Number of Counties in State: 15
#1. Nevada
Percent of Population Living in Counties with High Overdose Death Rates: 91.22% Percent of Counties With High Overdose Rates: 41.18% Population: 2,730,066 Number of Counties in State: 17
Overview of States With the Worst Overdose Problem
Related Slideshow: #50 to #1: Doctors in Oregon with the Most Medicare Prescription Claims
The following information was found on ProPublica, which performs investigative journalism for the sake of the public interest.
The doctors listed here self-identified internal medicine as their primary specialty, and are sorted from the lowest amount of Medicare prescription claims filled to the highest amount of Medicare prescription claims filled.
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