Unintentional falls among older adults have become increasingly deadly, with new federal data revealing significant increases in fall death rates over the past two decades.

According to a CDC report published in June 2025, fall death rates among adults age 65 and older rose significantly between 2003 and 2023. The data shows that mortality rates from unintentional falls increased more than 70% for adults ages 65 to 74, more than 75% for those ages 75 to 84 and more than doubled for seniors 85 and older.

In addition, the report found that more than 41,000 retirement-age Americans died from unintentional falls in 2023, the most recent year with complete data. This means falls were blamed for approximately one in every 56 deaths among older adults that year.

The CDC study found that men consistently experienced higher fall death rates than women across all age groups. For adults aged 65 and older overall, men had a death rate of 74.2 per 100,000 population compared to 66.3 per 100,000 for women. The risk increases dramatically with age, climbing from 19.2 deaths per 100,000 people for those ages 65-74 to 339.5 deaths per 100,000 for adults 85 and older.

The data also revealed significant racial disparities fall death rates among older adults. White seniors accounted for the vast majority of fall deaths among the oldest age group — about 87%, based on CDC data. In contrast, Black older adults had the lowest fall-related death rates across all age groups examined.

Geographic variations in fall data proved striking. Wisconsin recorded the highest fall death rate at 158.4 per 100,000 older adults, while Alabama had the lowest at 29.5 per 100,000. Wisconsin’s rate was more than five times higher than Alabama’s, though researchers have not yet determined the reasons for these state-to-state differences.