Alcohol-related deaths continue to pose a major public health problem in the United States,
where drinking contributes to an estimated 95,000 deaths annually and is listed as the third-highest cause of preventable deaths in the nation. Though the SHADAC and State Health Compare definition of "alcohol-involved deaths" is more limited in scope (e.g., only deaths that are 100% attributable to alcohol), the number of alcohol-involved deaths has still risen significantly over the past two decades. Ongoing surveillance of alcohol-involved death rates can help identify which populations are at heightened risk of dangerous alcohol use patterns leading to growing alcohol-involved death rates
and inform strategic interventions and campaigns to address this issue.
State Health Compare provides annual, state-level rates of alcohol-related deaths per 100,000 people based on data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WONDER Database. Estimates reflect deaths from various alcohol-induced causes, such as alcoholic gastritis, alcoholic liver disease, degeneration of the nervous system due to alcohol, and accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol.