Summary
For an overview of the 8 Texas Public Health Regions (PHRs), please visit:
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/regions/default.shtm
Data Source
Texas Vital Statistics (VSTAT)Data Description
Drug poisoning-related deaths are deaths that are unintentional according to the medical certifier who completes the cause of death section of the death certificate. This category includes ICD-10 codes X40-X44. It does not include deaths classified as suicide, homicide or undetermined intent.
Non-natural deaths are sent to the Justice of the Peace or Medical Examiner to perform an autopsy and toxicology test. The toxicology report may take up to 6 months. For this reason, it takes time for ICD-10 codes to be added to death records. At this time, provisional death data may not be coded and counts may change over time.
Fentanyl poisoning-related deaths are a subset of all drug poisoning-related deaths where the cause of death contains the text 'fentanyl' or 'fentanil'. Other misspellings of fentanyl are not included. Those deaths could involve fentanyl in combination with other substances.
Xylazine poisoning indications are a subset of all drug poisoning-related deaths where the cause of death contains the text 'xylazine'; 'zylazine'; 'xilazine'; 'xylozine'; or 'tranq'. Other misspellings of xylazine are not included. Those deaths could involve xylazine in combination with other substances. This free text search aligns with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) methodology for identifying xylazine related deaths.
Spencer MR, Cisewski JA, Warner M, Garnett ME. Drug overdose deaths involving Xylazine: United States, 2018–2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention NCHS Vital Statistics Rapid Release Reports. June 30, 2023. Accessed January 15, 2026. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/129519.
To protect privacy, counts of deaths from 1-9 are suppressed. Rates where the numerator is 1-20 are suppressed because rates based on small numbers are unreliable. On the dashboard, "---" indicates suppressed data. When a data spreadsheet is downloaded, suppressed values appear as "-1"
Race or Ethnicity "Non-Hispanic Other" race/ethnicity category also includes records with Unknown race/ethnicity and multiple race responses
Population counts and rates utilize population projections from Texas Demographic Center (TDC) historical population estimates for the years 2014-2019, TDC 2024 Vintage Projections for years 2020 and 2025, and TDC 2024 Vintage Estimates for years 2021-2024. Sub-groups that meet suppression criteria for low values are not shown.
TDC 2024 Vintage Projections: https://demographics.texas.gov/Projections/
TDC 2024 Vintage Estimates: https://demographics.texas.gov/Estimates/
Population Rates are calculated using population estimates and projections from Texas Demographic Center.
Border counties include the following 32 counties as determined from the La Paz agreement: Brewster, Brooks, Cameron, Crockett, Culberson, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, El Paso, Frio, Hidalgo, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Jim Hogg, Kennedy, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick, McMullen, Pecos, Presidio, Real, Reeves, Starr, Sutton, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb, Willacy, Zapata, and Zavala. Non-Border counties include all other counties not included as border counties and deaths where the county is unknown.
Additional Information
Center for Disease Control and Prevention Drug Overdose Deaths