All-Cause Mortality Among Working-Age Men in the United States, 2022-2023.

Abstract

<b>Objectives.</b> To describe mortality rates by occupation among working-age men in the United States in 2022 and 2023. <b>Methods.</b> I obtained data on the occupation of decedents from death certificate data published by the National Center for Health Statistics for men aged 20 to 64 years. I calculated mortality rates and rate ratios for occupation groups. <b>Results.</b> Mortality rates were more than double for construction and extraction workers compared with all other workers. Mortality rates and rate ratios for workers in manual, blue-collar occupations were significantly higher than those for workers in other occupations. <b>Conclusions.</b> There were notably higher mortality rates for workers in manual, blue-collar occupations. Occupation groups with higher mortality rates also generally had a larger share of men in their workforce. <b>Public Health Implications.</b> Further research should examine work-related risk factors for occupational disparities in all-cause mortality. The workplace can be a convenient setting for interventions to prevent premature death among working-age men. Including occupation at the time of death in public health data can improve the validity and precision of future studies of the occupational causes of mortality. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. 2026;116(8):1091-1094. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308528).