It’s a deadly statistic. The top two causes of death in the United States are responsible for more than 50 percent of America’s annual death toll. If that doesn’t “hit us where we live,” this just might — where we reside in the U.S. has a strong correlation with how we will die.

The Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health break out the 15 most common causes of death as follows:

1. Diseases of the heart   28.5

2. Malignant tumors   22.8

3. Cerebrovascular diseases   6.7

4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases  5.1

5. Accidents (unintentional injuries)   4.4

6. Diabetes mellitus  3.0

7. Influenza and pneumonia   2.7

8. Alzheimer’s disease   2.4

9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis   1.7

10. Septicemia (blood poisoning)   1.4

11. Suicide   1.3

12. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis   1.1

13. Primary hypertension and hypertensive renal disease   0.8

14. Parkinson’s disease (tied)   0.7

15. Homicide (tied)   0.7

Looking at the leading causes of death listed above, just five account for over 70% or 7 out of every 10 deaths. The  two major killers, heart disease and cancer, account for over half of all deaths in the country.

Not surprisingly, researchers found that states with the highest rates of cigarette smoking — Kentucky and Tennessee — also had the highest rates of heart disease deaths. The researchers say that if cigarette smoking declined in those states the number of early deaths from heart disease would also decline.

The researchers also found that male residents of some states have five times the risk of dying young from heart disease compared to other states. To see where your state ranks for heart disease and stroke, visit this Interactive Map.

While affordable life insurance can’t prevent any of these causes of death, it can make sure that financial protection will survive the catastrophe!

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