FRED and, by extension, GeoFRED have two sets of county-level statistics on premature deaths: the raw measure shown in the map above and the age-adjusted measure shown in the map below. What’s the difference?

First, we need to define premature death. Statistically, for our purposes here, it’s a death occurring before age 75, which is roughly the life expectancy at birth for the average U.S. resident. However, the data shown in the top map do not take into account the age of the person; it is simply the overall rate for all premature deaths. This makes it more difficult to compare counties because not all have the same age distribution for their population. A 10-year-old clearly has a different likelihood of dying than a 74-year-old. The second measure adjusts for that. The age adjustment involves calculating what the death rate would be in the long run if the age-specific death rates would prevail for the existing age distribution of the population. And after comparing the two maps, this adjustment appears to matter.

How these maps were created: The original post referenced interactive maps from our now discontinued GeoFRED site. The revised post provides replacement maps from FRED’s new mapping tool. To create FRED maps, go to the data series page in question and look for the green “VIEW MAP” button at the top right of the graph. See this post for instructions to edit a FRED map. Only series with a green map button can be mapped.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann.