The primary source is the NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS (NCHS). They can provide information on total deaths, deaths by age, race, and sex, etc. For deaths look under "Publications Printed" for recent years. They have data at the state and county levels.
Their phone number is 301-458-4636.
The U.S. Bureau of the Census does use deaths collected from NCHS and from state departments of vital statistics in our population estimates and projections programs. We present deaths in some of our estimates and projections products located on the Internet and in other formats.
The deaths presented in these products have been modified by our estimates and projections procedures, and therefore will differ from the annual deaths released in NCHS products.
