BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Whatcom’s overdose death rate was higher than King County’s.
Across the state, overdose deaths have continued to climb year over year. That was true in large counties like King and midsize counties like Whatcom.
Both counties set records for overdose deaths in 2022, the last full year for which the state Department of Health has published data.
In Whatcom County, the age-adjusted rate of overdose deaths was 32.36 per 100,000 population, according to the DOH dashboard. In total, 75 deaths were reported in 2022. In King County, the rate was 34.02 with 856 deaths reported.
Both of those rates were in-line with the statewide rates, which was 33.44 per 100,000 population. A total of 2,703 deaths were reported statewide.
The number of deaths marked a significant increase from previous years. In 2021, Whatcom County reported 44 deaths, King County had 649, and statewide 2,264 people died of overdoses.
To examine the Department of Health data yourself:
- Visit the overdose dashboard here: https://doh.wa.gov/data-and-statistical-reports/washington-tracking-network-wtn/opioids/overdose-dashboard
- Click on deaths in the upper left corner
- Select “By Date” in the upper center of the dashboard
- In the left side bar, select “Region/County” and open the county dropdown
- Then check the box next to the county you want to see statistics for
