These data are from the same source as the United States National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) Mortality Data, but they are distributed on the NBER website in a different format.

As with the mortality data published by NCHS, the NBER datasets contain demographic, geographic, and cause of death data. Data are available for a wide time period and smaller geographic regions within the United States, allowing analysis of cause of death, life expectancy, and mortality among regions.

The data follows the International Classification of Disease (ICD) rules established by the World Health Organization. Standardization using the ICD rules allows for comparison to mortality reports from different countries.