Maps of clusters of states with the highest lung cancer rates in the USA

Below are maps of clusters of states with the highest lung cancer rates in the USA. The clusters were found by counting the number of shared borders among states with the highest lung cancer incidence and mortality rates for every combination of gender and race/ethnicity.

Included are also the lists of states with the highest lung cancer rates.

To learn more about this study, please read the main article. You may also want to read the map guidelines and glossary of terms.

You can view geographic clusters involving other cancers:

White men lung cancer incidence rates

Map of USA. A few states are colored red, a few are colored purple, a few are colored green, and most are colored gray.

Figure 1: A cluster of states with the highest lung cancer incidence rates of white men

Shared-border ratio: 160%   (24 shared borders among 15 states)

List of states with highest rates:

State Rate (per 100,000) Color
1 Kentucky 118.7
2 West Virginia 101.4
3 Mississippi 98.9
4 Arkansas 97.7
5 Tennessee 96.8
6 Alabama 94.5
7 Indiana 90.9
8 Missouri 89.6
9 North Carolina 88.6
10 Georgia 88.2
11 Louisiana 86.9
12 Maine 86.7 Not In Cluster
13 South Carolina 86.7
14 Oklahoma 84.7
15 Ohio 84.6

(Number of states in the contiguous U.S. with numerical cancer rates in the CDC file: 48)

Black men lung cancer incidence rates

Map of USA. A few states are colored red, a few are colored purple, a few are colored green, and most are colored gray.

Figure 2: A cluster of states with the highest lung cancer incidence rates of black men

Shared-border ratio: 140%   (21 shared borders among 15 states)

List of states with highest rates:

State Rate (per 100,000) Color
1 Kentucky 123.9
2 Wisconsin 118.5
3 Mississippi 114.6
4 Arkansas 114.2
5 Louisiana 110.6
6 Tennessee 108
7 Missouri 107.1
8 Nebraska 106.5
9 Indiana 102.9
10 Iowa 102.3
11 Oklahoma 101.7
12 Pennsylvania 101.7 Not In Cluster
13 North Carolina 100.7
14 Alabama 100.5
15 Michigan 100.3

(Number of states in the contiguous U.S. with numerical cancer rates in the CDC file: 40)

White men lung cancer mortality rates

Map of USA. A few states are colored red, a few are colored purple, a few are colored green, and most are colored gray.

Figure 3: A cluster of states with the highest lung cancer mortality rates of white men

Shared-border ratio: 160%   (24 shared borders among 15 states)

List of states with highest rates:

State Rate (per 100,000) Color
1 Kentucky 91
2 Arkansas 83.9
3 Mississippi 82.2
4 Tennessee 80
5 Alabama 79.3
6 West Virginia 79.1
7 Oklahoma 74
8 Indiana 73.1
9 Missouri 70.6
10 Louisiana 69.9
11 South Carolina 68.6
12 North Carolina 68.3
13 Ohio 68
14 Georgia 67
15 Maine 66.1 Not In Cluster

(Number of states in the contiguous U.S. with numerical cancer rates in the CDC file: 49)

Black men lung cancer mortality rates

Map of USA. A few states are colored red, a few are colored purple, a few are colored green, and most are colored gray.

Figure 4: A cluster of states with the highest lung cancer mortality rates of black men

Shared-border ratio: 153%   (23 shared borders among 15 states)

List of states with highest rates:

State Rate (per 100,000) Color
1 Arkansas 96.2
2 Wisconsin 95.8
3 Mississippi 94.8
4 Louisiana 93.1
5 Kentucky 92.5
6 Tennessee 92.1
7 Nebraska 91.4
8 West Virginia 88.8
9 Alabama 86.8
10 Indiana 86.3
11 Oklahoma 83.7
12 Ohio 81.6
13 North Carolina 80.8
14 Michigan 80
15 Missouri 80

(Number of states in the contiguous U.S. with numerical cancer rates in the CDC file: 40)

White women lung cancer incidence rates

Map of USA. A few states are colored red, a few are colored purple, a few are colored green, and most are colored gray.

Figure 5: A cluster of states with the highest lung cancer incidence rates of white women

Shared-border ratio: 133%   (20 shared borders among 15 states)

List of states with highest rates:

State Rate (per 100,000) Color
1 Kentucky 80.7
2 West Virginia 66.5
3 Maine 66.2
4 Rhode Island 65.2
5 New Hampshire 64.8
6 Delaware 64.5 Not In Cluster
7 Missouri 64.5
8 Massachusetts 64.2
9 Tennessee 62.9
10 Indiana 62
11 Vermont 61.1
12 Arkansas 61
13 Mississippi 60.6
14 Ohio 59.7
15 New York 59.5

(Number of states in the contiguous U.S. with numerical cancer rates in the CDC file: 48)

Black women lung cancer incidence rates

Map of USA. A few states are colored red, a few are colored purple, a few are colored green, and most are colored gray.

Figure 6: A cluster of states with the highest lung cancer incidence rates of black women

Shared-border ratio: 147%   (22 shared borders among 15 states)

List of states with highest rates:

State Rate (per 100,000) Color
1 Kentucky 81.8
2 Iowa 74.1
3 Wisconsin 73.9
4 Pennsylvania 70.6
5 Missouri 69.3
6 Kansas 65.2
7 Illinois 64.2
8 Nebraska 64.2
9 Ohio 63.9
10 Michigan 63.2
11 Indiana 63
12 Oklahoma 60.5
13 Oregon 58.6 Not In Cluster
14 District of Columbia 58.3 Not In Cluster
15 Delaware 56

(Number of states in the contiguous U.S. with numerical cancer rates in the CDC file: 39)

Black women lung cancer mortality rates

Map of USA. A few states are colored red, a few are colored purple, a few are colored green, and most are colored gray.

Figure 7: A cluster of states with the highest lung cancer mortality rates of black women

Shared-border ratio: 153%   (23 shared borders among 15 states)

List of states with highest rates:

State Rate (per 100,000) Color
1 Iowa 57.1
2 Kentucky 55.5
3 Wisconsin 53.8
4 Kansas 51.6
5 Indiana 48.3
6 Pennsylvania 47.8
7 Ohio 47.4
8 Missouri 46.3
9 Illinois 45
10 Oregon 44.1 Not In Cluster
11 Michigan 44
12 Oklahoma 42.4
13 Nebraska 42.2
14 Tennessee 40.8
15 District of Columbia 40.3 Not In Cluster

(Number of states in the contiguous U.S. with numerical cancer rates in the CDC file: 40)