SUID Rates by State, 2018–⁠2022

Purpose

Understand sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) rates by state, 2018–⁠2022.

SUID rates by state, 2018–⁠2022

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality Files. Rates calculated via CDC WONDER.

This map shows sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) rates by state for 2018–⁠2022 combined. Rates varied by state from 2018–⁠2022 among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. From 2018–⁠2022, there are 23 states or jurisdictions with rates above the U.S. average (94.8 per 100,000 live births).*

  • Massachusetts, California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Utah had the lowest SUID rates.
  • Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, and South Dakota had the highest SUID rates.
  • From 2018–⁠2022, the SUID rate in Mississippi was 221.9 per 100,000 live births. This was almost 5 times the SUID rate in Massachusetts (45.0 per 100,000 live births).

*There were 20 or fewer deaths in Vermont. As a result, the ranking may be unreliable due to instability in death rates.

The sudden unexpected infant death rate includes sudden infant death syndrome, unknown cause, and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.