In 2013, infant mortality in Mississippi, the state with the highest rate, was more than twice as high as in Massachusetts, which had the lowest rate, the National Center for Health Statistics reported.
In Mississippi, infant mortality was 9.6 per 1,000 live births in 2013, which represents a 16% decline since 2005. Massachusetts’ lowest-in-the-nation rate that year was 4.18 per 1,000 live births, a drop of 18.5% since 2005, when it had a fourth-in-the-nation rate of 5.13, according to the data from the NCHS linked birth/infant death data set.
The District of Columbia’s 51% decline – going from a nation-topping rate of 13.67 per 1,000 births to 6.68 – was the largest drop from 2005 to 2013. Vermont’s decline of 33% was the largest among the states. Nine other states had declines of at least 20% from 2005 to 2013, while six states had increases.
Overall, national infant mortality was 5.96 in 2013, a drop of 13% since 2005.