County mapping of injury mortality

Death rates for injuries were mapped by county in order to identify high-risk geographic areas. Overall rates of unintentional injury death were high in rural areas, especially in the West, and in low-income southern counties. Homicides, primarily due to firearms, had high rates throughout the South; elsewhere, homicide rates were high in large cities but not in suburban counties. Southern counties also had high rates of housefire mortality. Drowning rates for young children were high on the West Coast and in Florida, and were high for the population as a whole in the Mississippi Delta. Mapping by county is a potentially powerful tool for identifying high-risk areas and developing preventive measures.