Health

How many drug overdose deaths happen every year in Iowa?

Data updated July 19, 2024
469 overdose deaths in 2022. For every 100,000 people in Iowa, 15 died of drug overdose. This was the second highest drug overdose death rate in the state since data from 1999 became available.
Showing data for
In 2022,

15

per 100,000 people died of overdoses
In 2022,

469

people died of overdoses
Unadjusted data about the nation is a useful starting point, but age-adjusted data tells a more complete story. Age-adjusting accounts for differences in age distributions across populations, which is crucial when comparing health outcomes since age is a major risk factor for many conditions. This adjustment enables fairer comparisons of mortality rates between different groups or over time. The rest of the data on this page is age-adjusted.
In 2022, Iowa had a drug overdose death rate lower than the US rate overall, nearly 53% lower. The drug overdose death rate in Iowa increased in 18 of the last 23 years in which data was available. The overdose death rate increased 59% since 2018 and 65% since 2013.

In 2022, Iowa had a drug overdose death rate lower than the US rate.

Drug-involved overdose deaths in Iowa, age-adjusted rate per 100,000 people

The rise in drug overdose deaths nationally has been due to growing use of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, however, this may vary by state. In 2022, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug, making up approximately 43% of total overdose deaths in Iowa. The rates of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl and methamphetamine increased 8.6 and 7.7 times, respectively, between 2008 and 2022 for fentanyl and between 2010 and 2022 for methamphetamine.

In 2022, fentanyl was involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug.

Drug-involved overdose deaths in Iowa, age-adjusted rate per 100,000 people

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Although drug overdose deaths were on the rise, they affect geographic areas differently. In 2022, the death rate for overdoses in Iowa ranged from 18 per 100,000 in Scott County and Linn County to 28 per 100,000 in Polk County.
Occasionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will mark data as either suppressed or unreliable. Suppression occurs when data does not meet confidentiality requirements. As a result, data may not be available for every county in this state. Age-adjusted data is also not available at the county level. County-level tables reflect the most recent year of available data.

Drug-involved overdose deaths per 100,000 people (2022)

Drug-involved overdose deaths per 100,000 people (2022)

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