State rankings
Infant Mortality Rate by State
Mississippi has the highest Infant Mortality Rate in 2020 (8.1), followed by Louisiana (7.6) and Arkansas (7.4). California has the lowest (3.9).
49 of 51 states
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Infant Mortality Rate, 2020
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All 49 ranked
Best first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
5.5
Middle half 4.8 – 6.4
Average
5.6
49 states
Lowest (best)
3.9
California
Highest (worst)
8.1
Mississippi
Over time · 2014–2020
The top 5 in 2020, against the median.
- Median of all states
- California
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- New Jersey
- New York
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
50 states · # = rank by Infant Mortality Rate
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  California | 3.9 | 1,648 |
| 2 |  Massachusetts | 3.9 | 262 |
| 3 |  Rhode Island | 4.0 | 40 |
| 4 |  New Jersey | 4.0 | 392 |
| 5 |  New York | 4.1 | 855 |
| 6 |  Minnesota | 4.1 | 262 |
| 7 |  Oregon | 4.2 | 168 |
| 8 |  Connecticut | 4.3 | 145 |
| 9 |  New Hampshire | 4.4 | 52 |
| 10 |  Iowa | 4.4 | 160 |
| 11 |  Washington | 4.5 | 375 |
| 12 |  Nevada | 4.6 | 156 |
| 13 |  Colorado | 4.8 | 295 |
| 14 |  Hawaii | 4.9 | 77 |
| 15 |  Montana | 5.0 | 54 |
| 16 |  Idaho | 5.1 | 109 |
| 17 |  Alaska | 5.1 | 48 |
| 18 |  Delaware | 5.1 | 53 |
| 19 |  Arizona | 5.2 | 399 |
| 20 |  Wyoming | 5.2 | 32 |
| 21 |  Texas | 5.3 | 1,946 |
| 22 |  New Mexico | 5.3 | 116 |
| 23 |  Utah | 5.4 | 248 |
| 24 |  North Dakota | 5.5 | 55 |
| 25 |  Illinois | 5.5 | 733 |
| 26 |  Pennsylvania | 5.6 | 729 |
| 27 |  Nebraska | 5.7 | 138 |
| 28 |  Maryland | 5.7 | 393 |
| 29 |  Virginia | 5.8 | 546 |
| 30 |  Florida | 5.8 | 1,217 |
| 31 |  Missouri | 5.9 | 408 |
| 32 |  Oklahoma | 5.9 | 281 |
| 33 |  Wisconsin | 5.9 | 360 |
| 34 |  Georgia | 6.3 | 769 |
| 35 |  Maine | 6.3 | 73 |
| 36 |  Tennessee | 6.4 | 502 |
| 37 |  Kentucky | 6.4 | 332 |
| 38 |  Kansas | 6.6 | 227 |
| 39 |  South Carolina | 6.6 | 370 |
| 40 |  Ohio | 6.7 | 865 |
| 41 |  Indiana | 6.8 | 531 |
| 42 |  North Carolina | 6.8 | 790 |
| 43 |  Michigan | 6.8 | 708 |
| 44 |  Alabama | 7.0 | 403 |
| 45 |  South Dakota | 7.3 | 80 |
| 46 |  West Virginia | 7.3 | 127 |
| 47 |  Arkansas | 7.4 | 260 |
| 48 |  Louisiana | 7.6 | 435 |
| 49 |  Mississippi | 8.1 | 288 |
| — |  Vermont | — | 18 |
What correlates with Infant Mortality Rate (2020)?
Pearson r against 2,113 other state metrics sharing at least 30 states. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Infant Mortality Rate tend to score higher on these
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Infant Mortality Rate tend to score lower on these
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Infant Mortality Rate?
- Mississippi has the highest Infant Mortality Rate in 2020, at 8.1, followed by Louisiana (7.6) and Arkansas (7.4).
- Which state has the lowest Infant Mortality Rate?
- California has the lowest Infant Mortality Rate in 2020, at 3.9.
- What is the median Infant Mortality Rate across US states?
- The median is 5.5 across the 49 US states with data in 2020.
- Where does this infant mortality rate by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Infant Mortality by State, 2024 - CDC National Center for Health Statistics; Mortality in the United States, 2024 - NCHS Data Brief 548, January 2026.