Dallas County Health Report Highlights Mortality Rates, Top Causes of Death

The 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment outlines persistent health disparities across the county.

Apr. 13, 2026 at 11:07am

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A translucent, ghostly X-ray image showing the intricate internal structure of a human heart, glowing against a dark background and conveying the clinical nature of heart disease, the top cause of death in Dallas County.An X-ray view of the human heart reveals the internal structures behind the leading cause of death in Dallas County.Dallas Today

A new community health assessment report for Dallas County reveals that while the mortality rate has dropped from pandemic peaks, it still hasn't returned to pre-COVID levels. The report outlines the county's top causes of death, significant variations in life expectancy across different ZIP codes, and persistent challenges like low childhood vaccination rates and high HIV prevalence.

Why it matters

The detailed health data provides a basis for local leaders and health organizations to identify key problem areas and develop targeted interventions to improve public health outcomes across Dallas County, especially in addressing longstanding disparities between more affluent and disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The details

The 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment, compiled by Dallas County's public health department and Parkland Health, shows that while the county's average life expectancy is 77.2 years - lower than the national average of 78.4 years - there is a 17-year gap between the ZIP codes with the highest (85 years) and lowest (67.8 years) life expectancies. The top causes of death from 2020-2024 were diseases of the heart, cancers, COVID-19, accidents, cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer's, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Childhood vaccination rates, especially for measles-mumps-rubella, have dropped significantly, putting the community at risk of infectious disease outbreaks. Dallas County also has the second-highest HIV case burden in Texas, with a prevalence rate more than double the national average.

  • The 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment covers the 2020-2024 time period.
  • The latest school year data shows Dallas County's kindergarten MMR vaccination rate dropped about 4 percentage points to 90.2% in 2024-25.

The players

Dallas County Public Health Department

The county's public health agency that collaborated with Parkland Health on the community health assessment report.

Parkland Health

A major healthcare provider in Dallas that partnered with the county on the community health needs assessment.

Jessica Hernandez

The chief health equity officer at Parkland Health.

Dr. Philip Huang

The public health director for Dallas County.

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What they’re saying

“Now that we have our data, what does that mean for us for the next three years? This will help us get focused on those areas where we've not quite made the impact we'd like to make and try to create some interventions that will get us there.”

— Jessica Hernandez, Chief Health Equity Officer, Parkland Health

“We're very concerned about what's going on with immunizations and immunization rates.”

— Dr. Philip Huang, Public Health Director, Dallas County

“As more people know their status, and we can get them linked to care, that's when we're going to see more of the decline.”

— Dr. Philip Huang, Public Health Director, Dallas County

What’s next

Parkland Health and the Dallas County public health department are planning a public presentation of the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment later this month to share the findings and outline potential interventions.

The takeaway

The detailed health data in the community assessment provides a roadmap for local leaders and health organizations to address persistent public health challenges in Dallas County, from disparities in life expectancy to declining childhood vaccination rates and the high burden of HIV cases. Tackling these longstanding issues will require coordinated, data-driven efforts to improve outcomes, especially in the county's most vulnerable communities.