Division of Vital Statistics (DVS) Mortality Geocodes
Return to List of Geocodes by NCHS Data System
The following lists the geographic variables that exist within the mortality data. Some variables are publically available, while others have restricted access. The variable position represents the column number where the variables can be found on the dataset. When applying for access to this data through the RDC, please provide the variable description and variable position in your data dictionary.
Year |
Public-Use
Variable Description |
Restricted-Use
Variable Description |
Variable
Position |
2005 |
(national level data only) |
State of Residence (FIPS)
State of Occurrence (FIPS)
County of Residence (FIPS) **
County of Occurrence (FIPS) **
City of Residence (FIPS) **
PMSA/MSA of Residence (FIPS) **
CMSA of Residence (FIPS) |
29-30
21-22
35-37
23-25
38-42
47-50
53-54 |
2003-2004 |
State of Residence (FIPS)
State of Occurrence (FIPS)
County of Residence (FIPS) *
County of Occurrence (FIPS)
City of Residence (FIPS) *
PMSA/MSA of Residence (FIPS) *
CMSA of Residence (FIPS) |
County of Residence (FIPS) **
County of Occurrence (FIPS) **
City of Residence (FIPS) ** |
29-30
21-22
35-37
23-25
38-42
47-50
53-54 |
2002-1990 |
State of Residence (FIPS)
State of Occurrence (FIPS)
County of Residence (FIPS) *
County of Occurrence (FIPS) *
PMSA/MSA of Residence (FIPS) *
CMSA of Residence (FIPS) |
County of Residence (FIPS) **
County of Occurrence (FIPS) ** |
124-125
119-120
126-128
121-123
129-132
134-135 |
1989 |
State of Residence (FIPS)
State of Occurrence (FIPS)
County of Residence (FIPS) *
County of Occurrence (FIPS) *
SMSA of Residence (FIPS) * |
County of Residence (FIPS) **
County of Occurrence (FIPS) ** |
124-125
119-120
126-128
121-123
129-132 |
* Counties and cities with a population of 100,000 or more
** All counties regardless of population size and cities with a population of 10,000 or more
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Two parallel sets of geographic codes are currently available in vital statistics files: Federal Information Process Standard (FIPS) codes and proprietary NCHS codes. FIPS codes have been presented here because they are more familiar to most users.
- FIPS State, County, and SMSA codes have been available since 1980 and FIPS Place (City) codes have been available since 2003. NCHS codes are available for all years prior to 2003, but should be used with caution when using multiple years’ data as NCHS codes are subject to change.
- The FIPS MSA codes used from 1990-2005 are based on 1990 definitions and the FIPS SMSA codes used from 1988-1989 are based on 1980 definitions. This is important to consider especially if you are combining these data with other data based on MSAs or SMSAs.