--- description: Even as the rate falls for all other races and age groups title: Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying at Higher Rates image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Public Health](/tag/public-health/) ## Public Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying at Higher Rates by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 2, 2015 11:18 PM CUT by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 2, 2015 11:18 PM CUT The [death rate for middle-aged white Americans is on the rise](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html?smid=tw-share&%5Fr=0 "undefined"), even as it declines for all other races and age groups, as well as for whites in other rich countries. The change seems to be most prominent among the least-educated white Americans. A new study reveals that the death rate for whites aged 45 to 54 in the U.S. with a high school degree or less rose by 134 deaths per 100,000 people from 1999 to 2014, the New York _Times_ reports. In all, middle-aged whites have a mortality rate of 415 per 100,000. The data suggests that suicide and drug and alcohol abuse are largely to blame for the increase in deaths. African-Americans of the same age have a mortality rate of 581 per 100,000 and are narrowing the gap with whites. Middle-aged Hispanic people have a lower death rate of 262 per 100,000. While the economists behind the study could not say for sure what is driving these deaths, they pointed out that less-educated whites have also seen increases in chronic pain, mental illness and financial instability. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html?smid=tw-share&%5Fr=0 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4097521/middle-aged-white-americans-death-rate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4097521/middle-aged-white-americans-death-rate/"},"headline":"Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying at Higher Rates","datePublished":"2015-11-02T23:18:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:17:14.019Z","description":"Even as the rate falls for all other races and age groups","url":"https://time.com/4097521/middle-aged-white-americans-death-rate/","keywords":["Public Health"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4097521/middle-aged-white-americans-death-rate/","name":"Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying at Higher Rates"}}]}] ```