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National Safety Council's
What Are the Odds of Dying?
(Originally published here.)

The tables below were prepared in response to frequent inquiries, especially from the media, asking, "What are the odds of being killed by lightning?" or "What are the chances of dying in a plane crash?"

The first table lists all injury-related causes of death, including suicide and homicide, and shows them grouped by cause of death. The second table lists only unintentional causes and shows them in rank order from most likely to least likely which makes it easy to compare various causes. The data are for 1996 which is the latest year available.

Each table has four columns. The first column gives the manner of injury such as motor-vehicle crash, fall, fire, etc. The second column gives the total number of deaths nationwide in 1996 due to the manner of injury. The third column gives the odd of dying in one year due to the manner of injury. The fourth column gives the lifetime odds of dying from the manner of injury. Statements about the odds or chances of dying from a given cause of death may be made as follows:

The odds of dying from (manner of injury) in 1996 were 1 in (value given in the one-year odds column).
The life-time odds of dying from (manner of injury) for a person born in 1996 were 1 in (value given in the lifetime odds column).

For example, referring to the first line of the table below:

The odds of dying from an injury in 1996 were 1 in 1,765.
The lifetime odds of dying from an injury for a person born in 1996 were 1 in 23.

Source: National Safety Council estimates based on data from National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. Deaths are classified on the basis of the Ninth Revision of "The International Classification of Diseases" (ICD). Numbers following titles refer to External Cause of Injury and Poisoning classifications in the ICD. Data for 1996 are the latest official figures. One year odds are approximated by dividing the 1996 population (265,284,000) by the number of deaths. Lifetime odds are approximated by dividing the one-year odds by the life expectancy of a person born in 1996 (76.1 years).

Odds of Death Due to Injury, United States, 1996

Note: Lines in italics are subcategories of other listed causes.

Lines enclosed in brackets, "[...]", are combinations of two or more lines shown elsewhere.

Manner of Injury	Deaths, 1996	One-year Odds	Life-time Odds
ALL INJURY DEATHS, E800-E999	150,298	1,765	23
All Accidental Deaths, E800-E949	94,948	2,794	37
Railway, E800-E807	565	469,529	6,170
Motor-vehicle, E810-E825	43,649	6,078	80
Pedestrian, .7 of E810-E825	6,028	44,009	578
Water transport, E830-E838	675	393,013	5,164
Drowning (excluded from drowning below), E830, E832	471	563,236	7,401
Other water transport, E831, E833-E838	204	1,300,412	17,088
Air and space transport, E840-E845	1,061	250,032	3,286
Poisoning by solids and liquids, E850-E866	8,872	29,901	393
Poisoning by gases and vapors, E867-E869	638	415,806	5,464
[Poisoning by solids, liquids, gases, vapors, E850-E869 ]	9,510	27,895	367
Complications, misadventures of surgical, medical care, E870-E879	2,919	90,882	1,194
Falls, E880-E888	14,986	17,702	233
Fire and flames, E890-E899	3,741	70,913	932
Excessive heat, E900	249	1,065,398	14,000
Excessive cold, E901	685	387,276	5,089
Hunger, thirst, exposure and neglect, E904	224	1,184,304	15,562
Poisoning by and toxic reaction to venomous animals, plants, E905	68	3,901,235	51,265
Venomous snakes, lizards, and spiders, E905.0, E905.1	13	20,406,462	268,153
Hornets, wasps and bees, E905.3	45	5,895,200	77,466
Other and unspecified animals, plants, E905.2, E905.4-E905.9	10	26,528,400	348,599
Other injury caused by animals, E906	107	2,479,290	32,579
Dog bite, E906.0	23	11,534,087	151,565
Other and unspecified injury by animal, E906.1-E906.9	84	3,158,143	41,500
Lightning, E907	63	4,210,857	55,333
Cataclysmic storms, and floods resulting from storms, E908	93	2,852,516	37,484
Cataclysmic earth surface movements and eruptions, E909	42	6,316,286	83,000
Other natural and environmental factors, E902, E903	19	13,962,316	183,473
Drowning, submersion (excluding water transport drownings above), E910	3,488	76,056	999
During sport or recreation, E910.0-E910.2	645	411,293	5,405
In bathtub, E910.4	330	803,891	10,564
Other, unspecified drowning, submersion, E910.3, E910.8, E910.9	2,513	105,565	1,387
[Drowning, all, E830, E832, E910 ]	3,959	67,008	881
Inhalation and ingestion of food, E911	1,126	235,599	3,096
Inhalation and ingestion of other object, E912	2,080	127,540	1,676
[Choking, E911-E912 ]	3,206	82,746	1,087
Mechanical suffocation, E913	1,114	238,136	3,129
Struck by falling object, E916	732	362,410	4,762
Struck against or by objects or persons, E917	171	1,551,368	20,386
Caught in or between objects, E918	71	3,736,394	49,098
Machinery, E919	926	286,484	3,765
Cutting or piercing instruments or objects, E920	97	2,734,887	35,938
Firearm missile, E922	1,134	233,937	3,074
Explosive material, E923	130	2,040,646	26,815
Fireworks, E923.0	9	29,476,000	387,332
Explosive gases, E923.2	49	5,413,959	71,143
Other and unspecified explosive material, E923.1, E923.8, E923.9	72	3,684,500	48,417
Hot substance or object, corrosive material and steam, E924	104	2,550,808	33,519
Electric current, E925	482	550,382	7,232
Other and unspecified accidents, E914, E915, E921, E926, E927, E928	2,984	88,902	1,168
Late effects (deaths more than one year after accident), E929	1,126	235,599	3,096
Adverse effects of drugs in therapeutic use, E930-E949	253	1,048,553	13,779
All Suicide Deaths, E950-E959	30,903	8,584	113
Suicide by firearm, E955.0-.4	18,166	14,603	192
All Homicide Deaths, E960-E969	20,634	12,857	169
Homicide by firearm, E965.0-.4	14,037	18,899	248
Legal Intervention, E970-E978	337	787,193	10,344
Undetermined Whether Accidentally or Purposely Inflicted, E980-E989	3,463	76,605	1,007
Deaths From Operations of War, E990-E999	13	20,406,462	268,153

Odds of Death Due to Unintentional Injury,
Selected Causes, United States, 1996
(in rank order)

Note: Lines in italics are subcategories of other listed causes.

Manner of Injury	Deaths, 1996	One-year Odds	Life-time Odds
All Accidental Deaths, E800-E949	94,948	2,794	37
Motor-vehicle, E810-E825	43,649	6,078	80
Falls, E880-E888	14,986	17,702	233
Poisoning by solids, liquids, gases, vapors, E850-E869	9,510	27,895	367
Poisoning by solids and liquids, E850-E866	8,872	29,901	393
Pedestrian, .7 of E810-E825	6,028	44,009	578
Drowning, all, E830, E832, E910	3,959	67,008	881
Fire and flames, E890-E899	3,741	70,913	932
Drowning, submersion (excluding water transport drownings above), E910	3,488	76,056	999
Choking, E911-E912	3,206	82,746	1,087
Complications, misadventures of surgical, medical care, E870-E879	2,919	90,882	1,194
Inhalation and ingestion of other object, E912	2,080	127,540	1,676
Firearm missile, E922	1,134	233,937	3,074
Late effects (deaths more than one year after accident), E929	1,126	235,599	3,096
Inhalation and ingestion of food, E911	1,126	235,599	3,096
Mechanical suffocation, E913	1,114	238,136	3,129
Air and space transport, E840-E845	1,061	250,032	3,286
Machinery, E919	926	286,484	3,765
Struck by falling object, E916	732	362,410	4,762
Excessive cold, E901	685	387,276	5,089
Water transport, E830-E838	675	393,013	5,164
Drowning during sport or recreation, E910.0-E910.2	645	411,293	5,405
Poisoning by gases and vapors, E867-E869	638	415,806	5,464
Railway, E800-E807	565	469,529	6,170
Electric current, E925	482	550,382	7,232
Drowning In bathtub, E910.4	330	803,891	10,564
Adverse effects of drugs in therapeutic use, E930-E949	253	1,048,553	13,779
Excessive heat, E900	249	1,065,398	14,000
Hunger, thirst, exposure and neglect, E904	224	1,184,304	15,562
Struck against or by objects or persons, E917	171	1,551,368	20,386
Explosive material, E923	130	2,040,646	26,815
Other injury caused by animals, E906	107	2,479,290	32,579
Hot substance or object, corrosive material and steam, E924	104	2,550,808	33,519
Cutting or piercing instruments or objects, E920	97	2,734,887	35,938
Cataclysmic storms, and floods resulting from storms, E908	93	2,852,516	37,484
Caught in or between objects, E918	71	3,736,394	49,098
Poisoning by and toxic reaction to venomous animals, plants, E905	68	3,901,235	51,265
Lightning, E907	63	4,210,857	55,333
Explosive gases, E923.2	49	5,413,959	71,143
Hornets, wasps and bees, E905.3	45	5,895,200	77,466
Cataclysmic earth surface movements and eruptions, E909	42	6,316,286	83,000
Dog bite, E906.0	23	11,534,087	151,565
Other natural and environmental factors, E902, E903	19	13,962,316	183,473
Venomous snakes, lizards, and spiders, E905.0, E905.1	13	20,406,462	268,153
Fireworks, E923.0	9	29,476,000	387,332

Source: National Safety Council's Website

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