Incidence and Death Estimates by Congressional District

Overview

According to the boundaries for the 118^th Congress of the United States,12 there are an estimated 435 federal congressional districts and the non-voting federal District of Columbia.

Incidence rates and counts

Cancer incidence rates and counts for 2019 to 2023 were estimated for 435 federal congressional districts.

Data for 17 congressional districts are not presented. Illinois (17 congressional districts) opted not to present congressional district-specific estimated case counts and incidence rates.

Death rates and counts

Cancer death rates and counts for 2020 to 2024 were estimated for 431 federal congressional districts. Death rates and counts are not estimated for the 5 congressional districts in Connecticut due to changes in how population data are being reported beginning in 2022 [FR Doc. 2022-12063].

Estimated incidence rates and counts are presented from 419 congressional districts.

Methods for creating congressional district estimates

A brief description of the methods for estimating congressional district rates and counts is provided below. For specific inquiries, please email the U.S. Cancer Statistics team at uscsdata@cdc.gov.

The District of Columbia’s rates and counts were estimated according to its boundaries. Similarly, six congressional districts follow state boundaries: Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. Those districts’ rates and counts are the same as the state rates and counts. Rates and counts were calculated for the remaining districts as described below.

Rate calculations

Rates were estimated by assigning the county-level age-adjusted rates to the census block and weighting those by the block population proportion of the congressional district. Those weighted rates were then aggregated over the blocks within the congressional district to estimate the district rate. The rates were age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population using 15 age groups: 0 to 19, 20 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 34, 35 to 39, 40 to 44, 45 to 49, 50 to 54, 55 to 59, 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to 74, 75 to 79, 80 to 84, and 85 or older.

More specifically, the following steps were taken:

• The 2020 Census Privacy-Protected Microdata File was used to determine population estimates within each census block by race and sex. The populations were assigned to congressional districts.
• The age-adjusted county-level rates by race and ethnicity and sex were calculated using SEER*Stat. These rates were merged with the block-level population estimates by county.
• The county rates assigned to the census blocks were weighted by the proportion of the block population within the congressional district and then aggregated over the blocks within the congressional district.

Count calculations

The county counts were weighted by the proportion of the county population in the congressional district to the overall county population. The weighted counts were then aggregated over the counties in the congressional district. This gives the same estimates as weighting at the block level similar to the rate calculations but is more efficient in terms of computer time. Estimates for both sexes combined were obtained by summing the male estimate and female estimate.

Available data

Estimates are presented by sex (both sexes, male, and female) and race and ethnicity (all races, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic). Data are presented for all cancers combined and 20 leading cancers. Data are suppressed for cells with fewer than 16 estimated cases. Data for specific race and ethnicity groups may be suppressed at the state's request.

Since the congressional district estimates require county-level data, if any county data are missing, then the overall state counts presented in the Congressional Districts section will not match the counts in the U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations tool's State section. Instead, the counts in the Congressional Districts section will match the state counts calculated by aggregating across the U.S. Cancer Statistics county-level data.

The cancer incidence and death counts and rates presented by congressional district are estimated using county-level data because direct measures on congressional district-level data are not available. Please be mindful that these are estimated counts and rates, and they are not meant to be compared across congressional districts.