# What am I statistically likely to die from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-statistically-likely-to-die-from/189166 "2003-07-17T15:35:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milk_milk_lemonade)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-statistically-likely-to-die-from/189166/1 "2003-07-17T15:35:21Z")
Does anyone have a list of the statistically most likely ways for a westerner to die? Eg: 1 in 2 chance of old age 1 in 3 chance of contracting cancer 1 in 4 chance of fatal heart attack 1 in 5 chance of stroke 1 in 6 chance of car crash etc. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-statistically-likely-to-die-from/189166/2 "2003-07-17T16:09:22Z")
[Causes of death.](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm) Bottom line, IIRC, is that the ‘big two’ are about a 40% chance of death due to cardiovascular causes and 25% from cancer. Younger people are less likely to die, of course, but if they do die it’s most likely in a violent way.