U.S. City Vital Statistics, 1915 - 1938

This project contains a city-level panel dataset of deaths-by-cause from the U.S. Census Bureau for the years 1915 to 1938, annually, as reported in the publication “Mortality Statistics.” For some cities, the data is available separately for white and non-white deaths. This data is based on transcripts of death certificates received by the Census Bureau from certain areas of the country called “registration areas.” In 1918, the data covers an estimated population of 82,091,523, or 77.8% total estimated population of the United States, and includes 30 states, the District of Columbia, and 27 cities in nonregistration states. States and cities are added over time, so the panel is not complete. When data is reported based on white and non-white deaths, the majority (95%+) are Blacks (1918, page 11).