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Rate of Skin Cancer by Race and Ethnicity

"Incidence rate" means how many people out of a given number get the disease each year. The graph below shows how many people out of 100,000 got melanoma of the skin each year during the years 1975–2004. The year 2004 is the most recent year for which numbers have been reported. The melanoma of the skin incidence rate is grouped by race and ethnicity.

For example, you can see that white people had the highest incidence rate for melanoma of the skin. Hispanic people had the second highest incidence of getting melanoma of the skin, followed by Asian/Pacific Islander people.

Melanoma of the Skin
SEER Incidence Rates^† by Race and Ethnicity, U.S., 1975–2004^‡

*The group, or category, called "Hispanic" may be included in other categories like White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), and Asian/Pacific Islander (Asian/PI).
^†Rates are per 100,000 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population.
^‡Source: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, National Cancer Institute, NCI

Deaths from Melanoma of the Skin by Race and Ethnicity

From 1969–2003, the rate of people dying from melanoma of the skin has varied, depending on their race and ethnicity. The graph below shows that in 2004, white people were more likely to die of melanoma of the skin than any other group. Hispanic people had the second highest rate of deaths from melanoma of the skin, followed by people who are black and Asian/Pacific Islander.

Melanoma of the Skin
U.S. Death Rates^† by Race and Ethnicity, 1969–2004^‡

*The group, or category, called "Hispanic" may be included in other categories like White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), and Asian/Pacific Islander (Asian/PI).
^†Rates are per 100,000 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population.
^‡Source: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)