Infant Mortality

King County's infant mortality rate is lower than Washington State's, but disparities by race/ethnicity persist

 

Infant mortality is the death of an infant before their first birthday. The infant mortality rate is widely used as a measure of the overall health of a community, as it is a general indicator of unmet need and is associated with many determinants of health. Addressing these determinants, including socioeconomic status, access to and quality of medical care, nutrition, and education is likely to reduce infant mortality. 

During 2020-2024, 4.1 per 1,000 infants born to King County residents died within a year of their birth. The King County rate was slightly lower than the 2024 Washington state infant mortality rate of 4.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births and well below the Healthy People 2030 target of 5.0 per 1,000 live births. However, disparities persist by race/ethnicity, neighborhood and other factors: 

  • Race and ethnicity: Infants born to Black birthing people had the highest infant mortality rate at 6.8 per 1,000. Infants born to Asian birthing people had the lowest mortality rate (2.7 per 1,000). However, disparities exist among Asian ethnic groups where birthing people who identified as Asian – other (8.9 per 1,000) had a higher infant mortality rate than Asian Indian (3.0 per 1,000) and Chinese (1.6 per 1,000) birthing people. Birthing people who identified as Filipino also had a higher infant mortality rate (5.5 per 1,000) than Asian Indian and Chinese birthing people. Birthing people who identified as Samoan had the highest infant mortality rate (14.5 per 1,000) across all detailed race/ethnicity groups that data were collected for. . 
     
    Note: Infant mortality rates for American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander birthing parents in King County are not shown in this graph in alignment with guidelines intended to protect confidentiality.  There are a large percentage of multiracial people in both Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native communities, many of whom may be represented only within the ‘Multiple Race’ category in this data.   

  • Birthing person’s age: Infant mortality among birthing people ages 18-24 (6.3 per 1,000) was higher than among birthing people ages 25-44 (3.8 per 1,000) and ages 35-44 (3.9 per 1,000). 

  • Region and city/neighborhood: The infant mortality rate in South King County (5.3 per 1,000) was larger than in East (2.9 per 1,000) and North (1.9 per 1,000) regions of King County. 

  • Birthing person’s education: Infant mortality among birthing people without a high school diploma/GED was higher (6.0-6.8 per 1,000) than that among birthing people with a bachelor’s degree or higher (2.2-3.3 per 1,000).  

Additional Resources 

  • Seattle Children’s Journey Grief Support Program offers individual, couples, family and child grief support to residents of Washington state. 

Notes & Sources

Source: Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics, Birth Certificates

For more information, see https://doh.wa.gov/data-and-statistical-reports/health-statistics/fetal-and-infant-death 

Numerator: Infants who die before their first birthday

Denominator: All live births during the time period

Information on infant deaths presented here is for infants who were residents of King County at the time of death. To learn more about birth data, read our data biography here.

 
 
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