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Heart Disease Data/Statistics

Heart disease is the leading killer across most racial and ethnic minority communities in the United States, accounting for 25% of all deaths in 2008.

African American men and women are 30% more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic white males. This occurs despite the fact that 6% of African Americans have heart disease. Some 34% of African Americans have hypertension compared to 24% of whites, in 2009.

Mexican Americans, who make up the largest share of the U.S. Hispanic population, suffer in greater percentages than Whites from overweight and obesity, two of the leading risk factors for heart disease. Premature death was higher for Hispanics (23.5%) than non-Hispanics (16.5%). In 2008, the Asian and Pacific Islander community, 33 percent of deaths are caused by heart disease. In 2001, the number of premature deaths (<65 years) from heart disease was greatest among American Indians or Alaska Natives (36%) and lowest among whites.

Quick Facts

• African Americans are 1.4 times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have high blood pressure.
• American Indian/Alaska Native adults are 1.3 times as likely as White adults to have high blood pressure.
• Overall, Asian American adults are less likely than white adults to have heart disease and they are less likely to die from heart disease.
• Mexican American women are less likely than non-Hispanic white women to have high blood presuure.

  Click here for more statistics on African Americans and Heart Disease.

  Click here for more statistics on American Indians/Alaska Natives and Heart Disease.

  Click here for more statistics on Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Heart Disease.

  Click here for more statistics on Hispanic Americans and Heart Disease.

  Click here for more statistics on Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders and Heart Disease.