These Are the 10 Counties With the Highest Cancer Rates in Washington

Cancer is 2nd only to heart disease as the biggest cause of death in the U.S. 1 out of every 4 deaths in this country is caused by cancer, or complications from treating it. If there is one thing humans who live on the planet Earth can agree on, it’s that cancer sucks.

Cancer does not care what religion you practice, what ethnic group you were born to, or what your financial background is. Cancer strikes everywhere. 38% of adults will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime.

Washington Cancer Rates Compared to Other States

Geography can play a part in some causes of particular types of cancer. With that in mind, Stacker put together a list of rates of cancer depending on where you live in Washington. This kind of information gathering may help researchers identify environmental factors as they search for causes and someday, a cure.

Looking at cancer rates from 2016-2020, Washington tied with South Dakota at 35th in the states with the highest cancer rates. The population of each state doesn’t matter when adjusted for the number of incidents per 100,000 people. The number of new incidents as well as the number of deaths in Washington is 3.3% below the national average.

In 2021, cancer was the leading cause of death in Washington. The CDC reports Washington had 36,017 new cases of cancer in 2020. It is estimated that in 2024, almost 45,000 adults will be diagnosed with cancer.

RELATED STORY: The 10 Highest Cancer Rates in Idaho Counties

To the east of Washington In Idaho, there were more than 3,000 cancer-related deaths in 2020.