Where Does Iowa Rank on Cancer Rates?

Last Updated: 8/29/2024

Nearly all of us want to live long and healthy lives and Iowa politicians have been bragging for years about how “business-friendly” our state is and how our taxes are going down.  However, did you know that Iowa is the only state in the US to have increasing cancer rates since 2015?  Iowa now only ranks 2^nd behind Kentucky for the highest rates of cancer in the US.  In the past 8 years overall, Iowa has dropped from being the 15^th healthiest state to the 22^nd.  This is a disturbing trend that all Iowans should be concerned about, but why are politicians and the media not talking about this? 

The Iowa Cancer Registry, a health research group housed at the University of Iowa recently reported that Iowa has the second-highest and fastest-rising incidence of cancer among all states. An estimated 21,000 new cancer cases are expected to develop this year and 6,100 Iowans will die from cancer, Iowa Cancer Registry Director Mary Charlton said in announcing the new report.  While some researchers blame increased alcohol consumption other point to the agricultural industry including the heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers along with 100 million plus farm animals that make Iowa the No. 1 producer of feces.  When you combine feces from humans and farm animals in Iowa it is like we have 168 million people living in our state. 

What good is wealth without health?  Iowa lawmakers should address things like water quality and reducing cancer rates along with financial matters like keeping jobs in Iowa and keeping the tax burden as low as possible.