The child mortality rate in the United States, for children under the age of five, was 462.9 deaths per thousand births in 1800. This means that for every thousand babies born in 1800, over 46 percent did not make it to their fifth birthday. Over the course of the next 220 years, this number has dropped drastically, and the rate has dropped to its lowest point ever in 2020 where it is just seven deaths per thousand births. Although the child mortality rate has decreased greatly over this 220 year period, there were two occasions where it increased; in the 1870s, as a result of the fourth cholera pandemic, smallpox outbreaks, and yellow fever, and in the late 1910s, due to the Spanish Flu pandemic.
Child mortality rate (under five years old) in the United States, from 1800 to 2020*
Characteristic
Deaths per 1,000 live births
2020
7
2015
7
2010
8
2005
8
2000
9
1995
10
1990
12
1985
14
1980
17
1975
21
1970
26
1965
29
1960
31
0100200300400500
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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), & Gapminder. (June 17, 2019). Child mortality rate (under five years old) in the United States, from 1800 to 2020* [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved April 06, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), und Gapminder. "Child mortality rate (under five years old) in the United States, from 1800 to 2020*." Chart. June 17, 2019. Statista. Accessed April 06, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Gapminder. (2019). Child mortality rate (under five years old) in the United States, from 1800 to 2020*. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: April 06, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and Gapminder. "Child Mortality Rate (under Five Years Old) in The United States, from 1800 to 2020*." Statista, Statista Inc., 17 Jun 2019, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) & Gapminder, Child mortality rate (under five years old) in the United States, from 1800 to 2020* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/ (last visited April 06, 2025)
Child mortality rate (under five years old) in the United States, from 1800 to 2020* [Graph], United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), & Gapminder, June 17, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/
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