Detail file (1989-97)
Data year
Residence of decedent¹
State²
County^2,3
City³
Population size
Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA)^2,3
Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties
Age at death:
Infants under 1 year (hours, days, months)
Ages 1 year and over (single years)
Autopsy performed (1989-94)
Day of week
Education (single years, 0-17)⁴
Hispanic origin⁴
Hospital (including status of decedent) and other type of place of death
Industry or business⁵
Injury at work (beginning 1993)
Month of death
Marital status
Occupation (usual)⁵
Place of birth (State and eight categories outside of the
United States)
Place of death (State,^2,3 county^2,3)
Race (nine categories)⁶
Sex
State of birth
Underlying cause of death:⁷
Each cause
____________________________________________________
¹Place of residence for decedents who were nonresidents of the United States has been coded to country of residence.
²Includes FIPS codes as well as National Center for Health Statistics codes.
³Includes data for areas with a population of 100,000 persons or more.
⁴Applicable only for those States having information on the certificate.
⁵Applicable only for those States transmitting information to NCHS.
⁶Beginning 1992, additional categories are available for some States.
⁷Causes of death for 1989-97 were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision.

Detail file (1979-88)¹
Data year
Residence of decedent:²
State³
County³
City (100,000 persons or more)³
Population size
Standard metropolitan statistical area³
Metropolitan/nonmetropolitan counties
Age at death:
Infants under 1 year (hours, days, months)
Ages 1 year and over (single years)
Autopsy performed
Day of death
Hispanic origin or descent (1984-88)⁴
Hospital and patient status
Industry or business (1985-88)⁵
Month of death
Marital status
Occupation (usual) (1985-88)⁵
Place of accident
Place of birth (State and eight categories outside
of the United States)
Place of death (State,³ county³)
Race (nine categories)
Sex
State of birth
Underlying cause of death:⁶
Each cause

Local area summary file (1979-88)⁷
Stub variables¹
Data year
Residence of decedent:²
State³
County³
City (10,000 persons or more)³
Population size
Standard metropolitan statistical area³
Metropolitan/nonmetropolitan counties
Month of death
Race (three categories)
Sex
Underlying cause of death:⁶
Recoded to 72 cause-of-death groups
Recoded to 34 cause-of-death groups

Spread variable¹
Total number of deaths:
Occurrence
Residence

Cause-of-death summary file (1979-88)⁷
Data year
Residence of decedent:²
State³
County³
Standard metropolitan statistical area³
Metropolitan/nonmetropolitan counties
Age
Autopsy performed
Day of death
Hospital and patient status
Marital status
Month of death
Hispanic origin or descent (1984-88)⁴
Place of accident
Place of birth (State and eight categories outsideof the United States)
Race (nine categories)
Sex
Underlying cause of death:⁶
Each
Recoded to 282 cause-of-death groups
Recoded to 72 cause-of-death groups
Recoded to 61 cause-of-death groups
Recoded to 34 cause-of-death groups
Total number of residence deaths
________________________________________________
¹All data items in the detail file are in EBCDIC code. The stub portion of all summary records consists of EBCDIC codes, and the spread portion consists of a series of full-word binary fields containing numbers of deaths.
²Place of residence for decedents who were nonresidents of the United States has been coded to country of residence (eight categories). The cause-of-death summary excludes data for nonresidents of the United States.
³FIPS codes as well as NCHS codes beginning in 1982.
⁴Applicable only for those States having information on the certificate.
⁵Applicable only for those States transmitting information to NCHS.
⁶Causes of death for 1979-88 were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision.
⁷Variables within a given stub may be cross-tabulated with one another and must be cross-tabulated with at least one stub variable; variables within a given spread may not be cross-tabulated with one another.

Detail file (1968-78)¹
Data year
Residence of decedent:²
State
County
City (250,000 persons or more)
Population size
Standard metropolitan statistical area
Metropolitan/nonmetropolitan counties
Age at death (single years)
Month of death
Day of death (1972-78)
Place of death (State, county)
Race:
Seven categories (1968)
Nine categories (1969-78)
Sex
Underlying cause of death:³
Each cause
Whether autopsy performed (1972-78)
Whether findings used (1972-77)

Local area summary file (1968-78)
Stub variables¹
Residence of decedent:²
State
County
City (10,000 persons or more)
Population size
Standard metropolitan statistical area
Metropolitan/nonmetropolitan counties
Underlying cause of death:³
Recoded to 69 cause-of-death groups
Recoded to 34 cause-of-death groups

Spread variable¹

Total number of deaths

Cause-of-death summary file (1968-78)
Stub variables¹

State of residence²
Sex
Race:
Seven categories (1968)
Nine categories (1968-78)
Underlying cause of death:³
Each cause
Recoded to 281 cause-of-death groups
Recoded to 69 cause-of-death groups

Spread variables¹

Age at death:
5-year age groups
Single years under 5 years of age
Under 1 year:
Less than 1 day
1-6 days
7-27 days
1-11 months
Month of death
__________________________________________________
¹All data items in the detail file are in EBCDIC code. The stub portion of all summary records consists of EBCDIC codes, and the spread portion consists of a series of full-word binary fields containing numbers of deaths.
²Beginning in 1970 the place of residence for decedents who were nonresidents of the United States has been coded to the county of residence (eight categories). Formerly these deaths were considered resident deaths of the place of occurrence. The local area and cause-of-death summaries exclude data for nonresidents of the United States.
³Causes of death for 1968-78 were coded according to the Eighth Revision, International Classification of Diseases, Adapted for Use in the United States.

Data file technical characteristics
The detail, local area summary, and cause-of-death data files are fixed length blocked files.  Beginning 1994, the mortality data for Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are provided as separate data sets on the file. 

Detail file

150-percent sample.

Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam data sets

Local area summary

Cause of death summary

Geographic coverage
Place of death is classified by State and county. In residence classification, all deaths are allocated to the usual place of residence as reported on the death certificate and are classified by State, county, and city.

For data years 1968-78, cities of 250,000 persons or more are classified. Beginning with 1979, cities of 100,000 persons or more are classified.

Geographic classification is as follows:

Data availability
Mortality data are collected annually. Underlying cause-of-death data are only available on tape. However, Multiple cause-of-death data are available on CD-ROM for data years 1992-94.

Customized data tapes
Additional tapes for 1989-97 are sold directly by NCHS to researchers whose needs for data cannot be met by the public-use data file sold through NTIS. Requests for tapes with more detail must be in writing and mailed to:

Director, Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
3311 Toledo Road, Floor 7
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782

All requests for additional data should include a list of the specific data items that are needed and an explanation of how the tapes will be used. The Director will make a determination on the request and release data tapes as applicable. However, recipients must agree to additional restrictions to avoid possible inadvertent disclosure of confidential information.

Ordering information
The Mortality, Underlying Cause-of-Death, Detail, Local area summary, and Cause-of-Death summary data tapes can only be purchased through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The NTIS order numbers and prices are as follows:

Data on tape (Detail file)

Data on tape (Local area summary file)

Data on tape (Cause-of-Death summary)

Documentation contents
Each data tape package contains the necessary documentation, including tape content and technical information, needed to access the data. Control total tables are also included.

Related reports
Reports that relate to the data are available in Vital and Health Statistics, Series 20; Supplements to the Monthly Vital Statistics Report; National Vital Statistics Report; and Vital Statistics of the United States, Volume II, Mortality, Parts A and B.

Contact
Mortality Statistics Branch
Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Floor 7
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782
(301) 458-4111

This page last reviewed August 25, 2009