The death rate in the United States reached a record low in 2025, according to data released by the CDC, with declines across every age group and for both men and women.

The Details: The CDC's "Mortality in the United States: Provisional Data, 2025" estimates that 3,094,593 people died in the country last year. According to the report, the death rate fell to 689.2 deaths per 100,000 people, a 4.6% decrease from 2024 and the lowest rate ever recorded. Heart disease and cancer remained the two leading causes of death, followed by unintentional injuries. The CDC also reported that influenza and pneumonia rose to the eighth leading cause of death, while suicide dropped from the tenth to the eleventh leading cause. Death rates remained highest among men, older adults and Black Americans.

Leading Causes of Death: The three leading causes of death in 2025 were heart disease (694,708 deaths), cancer (622,832 deaths) and unintentional injuries (184,265 deaths). Compared with 2024, the top seven causes of death remained unchanged, while influenza, pneumonia and kidney disease moved higher in the rankings.

For Context: The CDC report contains provisional data, meaning the numbers are early estimates that may be updated as additional death records are processed. It also includes mortality trends by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, showing declines across all age groups in 2025. Compared to 2024, the first seven leading causes of death remained the same, but the last three were different, according to The Hill. In 2024, the leading causes of death also included nephritis, chronic liver disease and suicide. 

How The Media Covered It: Media coverage across the political spectrum was largely similar, centering on the CDC's report that the US death rate reached a record low in 2025. CNN (Lean Left bias) emphasized the implications for life expectancy and broader public health trends, while the New York Post (Lean Right) focused more on declining overdose and COVID-19 deaths and the increase in influenza deaths.

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