Data study

Heart Risk in the Philadelphia Suburbs, County by County

Montgomery County’s heart disease death rate among adults 35 and older was 291.5 per 100,000 in 2022-2024, no lower than in 2018-2020, while the rates for Philadelphia, Chester County and Pennsylvania as a whole fell.

By the YoungerMeMD team · Published November 12, 2026

Key numbers

291.5
Heart disease deaths per 100,000 Montgomery County adults 35+ in 2022-2024, age-adjusted. It was 284.3 in 2018-2020.
Source: CDC heart disease mortality tables
381.4
The same rate in Philadelphia, down from 397.1.
Source: CDC heart disease mortality tables
258.0
The same rate in Chester County, down from 282.2.
Source: CDC heart disease mortality tables
8.5% vs 14.4%
Adults with diagnosed diabetes in Montgomery County and in Philadelphia, 2022, age-adjusted.
Source: CDC PLACES, 2024 release
2.2% to 11.0%
Share of adults with coronary heart disease across Montgomery County’s 216 census tracts, 2022 (not age-adjusted).
Source: CDC PLACES, 2024 release

Heart disease deaths: five counties, two periods

We compared heart disease death rates for adults 35 and older in Montgomery County and its neighbors, using the CDC’s county tables for 2018-2020 and 2022-2024. Of the five counties, Montgomery has the 3rd-highest rate, below Philadelphia and Delaware County and above Chester and Bucks. Its rate is below Pennsylvania’s (324.6) and the national rate (315.3).

Heart disease deaths per 100,000 adults 35 and older, age-adjusted
2018-20202022-2024
Philadelphia
397.1
381.4
Delaware
320.0
322.3
Montgomery
284.3
291.5
Chester
282.2
258.0
Bucks
262.0
250.5
Pennsylvania
339.2
324.6
United States
319.5
315.3

Counties: 3-year averages, spatially smoothed by the CDC. Pennsylvania and the United States: 3-year averages, not smoothed. The same figures are in the table below.

Area2018-20202022-2024ChangePA check 2018-2020PA check 2021-2023PA check change
Philadelphia County397.1381.4−4.0%400.0387.9−3.0% (clear)
Delaware County320.0322.3+0.7%324.6322.3−0.7% (within chance)
Montgomery County284.3291.5+2.5%286.4293.7+2.6% (within chance)
Chester County282.2258.0−8.6%288.0258.4−10.3% (clear)
Bucks County262.0250.5−4.4%264.7263.8−0.3% (within chance)
Pennsylvania339.2324.6−4.3%342.0333.9−2.4% (clear)
United States319.5315.3−1.3%n/an/an/a

Deaths per 100,000 adults 35 and older, age-adjusted. First three columns: CDC tables (2022-2024, 2018-2020). “PA check” columns: our own rates from Pennsylvania Department of Health death counts, not smoothed; “clear” means the change passes a two-sided test at the 95% level and “within chance” means it does not.

Both data sets tell the same story. Philadelphia, Chester County and Pennsylvania as a whole saw their rates fall, and the state’s own death counts show those declines are larger than chance would explain. Montgomery’s rate did not fall: it rose 2.5% in the CDC tables and 2.6% in the state counts, a change small enough to be chance. In 2023 alone, 1,864 Montgomery County residents died of heart disease, according to the state counts.

Risk factors: what adults report

The CDC’s PLACES project estimates how many adults in each county have common heart risk factors, from a national phone survey and a statistical model. On all five measures below, Montgomery County’s estimate sits below the national figure. Philadelphia stands apart on diabetes: 14.4% of adults, against 8.5% in Montgomery County. Among the four suburban counties the gaps are small, and their margins of error overlap.

AreaHigh cholesterolHigh blood pressureCoronary heart diseaseDiabetesObesity
Montgomery County27.2%27.0%5.3%8.5%31.2%
Philadelphia County28.8%32.0%6.9%14.4%34.5%
Delaware County28.7%30.2%5.1%9.5%31.4%
Chester County29.9%25.0%4.9%7.9%29.5%
Bucks County27.5%26.0%5.5%8.8%30.4%
United States30.4%29.6%5.7%10.4%33.4%

Share of adults, age-adjusted, CDC PLACES 2024 release: high cholesterol and high blood pressure 2021, the other three 2022. High cholesterol is among adults who have ever had their cholesterol checked. The 95% ranges for every figure are in the CSV.

One more figure from the same source: 12.5% of Montgomery County adults had not had a cholesterol check in the past five years (2021, not age-adjusted).

Montgomery County, tract by tract

PLACES also estimates coronary heart disease for each of Montgomery County’s 216 census tracts, neighborhoods of a few thousand people. The share of adults who report it ranges from 2.2% to 11.0%, with a middle value of 6.2%.

Adults with coronary heart disease, by census tract, 2022
2.2% to 5.4% (43 tracts)5.5% to 5.8% (38 tracts)5.9% to 6.4% (45 tracts)6.5% to 7.0% (44 tracts)7.1% to 11.0% (46 tracts)No estimate (3 parks and institutions)
Coronary heart disease among adults by census tract, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 2022 Darker tracts have a higher share of adults who report coronary heart disease. Figures are not age-adjusted. Grey tracts have no estimate. Tract 2001.03: 6.4%Tract 2001.04: 7.0%Tract 2001.05: 5.6%Tract 2001.06: 10.3%Tract 2002.00: 6.7%Tract 2003.01: 5.7%Tract 2003.05: 7.5%Tract 2003.06: 7.7%Tract 2003.07: 6.6%Tract 2003.08: 5.6%Tract 2003.09: 5.6%Tract 2003.10: 8.2%Tract 2004.01: 7.6%Tract 2004.02: 5.8%Tract 2005.01: 7.0%Tract 2005.02: 5.6%Tract 2005.05: 5.8%Tract 2005.06: 5.6%Tract 2005.07: 5.8%Tract 2006.02: 5.4%Tract 2006.03: 7.0%Tract 2006.05: 8.1%Tract 2006.06: 5.3%Tract 2006.07: 5.6%Tract 2007.03: 5.9%Tract 2007.04: 7.1%Tract 2007.07: 6.3%Tract 2007.08: 6.2%Tract 2008.00: 6.6%Tract 2009.01: 7.2%Tract 2009.02: 5.3%Tract 2009.03: 6.7%Tract 2009.06: 6.8%Tract 2009.07: 5.2%Tract 2009.08: 5.5%Tract 2010.03: 6.7%Tract 2010.04: 7.6%Tract 2010.05: 6.2%Tract 2010.06: 9.0%Tract 2011.00: 5.9%Tract 2012.01: 7.0%Tract 2012.03: 8.5%Tract 2012.04: 7.2%Tract 2013.01: 7.6%Tract 2013.02: 5.2%Tract 2014.04: 7.1%Tract 2014.06: 6.9%Tract 2014.07: 5.6%Tract 2014.08: 5.3%Tract 2014.09: 5.7%Tract 2014.10: 6.3%Tract 2014.11: 5.8%Tract 2015.01: 10.0%Tract 2015.02: 6.9%Tract 2016.03: 6.4%Tract 2016.04: 7.0%Tract 2016.05: 6.1%Tract 2016.06: 5.5%Tract 2016.07: 5.6%Tract 2016.08: 6.3%Tract 2017.03: 5.9%Tract 2017.04: 5.7%Tract 2017.05: 5.2%Tract 2017.06: 5.8%Tract 2018.00: 7.6%Tract 2019.01: 7.2%Tract 2019.02: 7.6%Tract 2020.00: 6.5%Tract 2021.00: 6.3%Tract 2022.01: 5.7%Tract 2022.02: 6.1%Tract 2023.01: 6.4%Tract 2023.02: 8.3%Tract 2024.01: 4.8%Tract 2024.02: 6.5%Tract 2025.00: 5.5%Tract 2026.02: 8.1%Tract 2026.03: 5.1%Tract 2026.04: 5.7%Tract 2030.00: 5.8%Tract 2031.03: 5.7%Tract 2031.04: 8.0%Tract 2031.05: 5.2%Tract 2031.06: 4.0%Tract 2032.03: 4.8%Tract 2032.04: 7.7%Tract 2032.05: 6.4%Tract 2032.07: 6.1%Tract 2032.08: 6.2%Tract 2033.02: 7.5%Tract 2033.03: 8.6%Tract 2033.04: 6.8%Tract 2034.01: 7.2%Tract 2034.02: 5.4%Tract 2034.03: 8.3%Tract 2035.00: 6.5%Tract 2036.01: 6.9%Tract 2036.02: 5.3%Tract 2037.01: 6.8%Tract 2038.01: 6.6%Tract 2038.03: 5.9%Tract 2038.04: 6.2%Tract 2039.01: 5.5%Tract 2039.02: 6.2%Tract 2040.02: 6.0%Tract 2040.07: 5.0%Tract 2040.08: 5.5%Tract 2040.09: 6.0%Tract 2040.10: 7.1%Tract 2041.01: 4.2%Tract 2041.03: 2.2%Tract 2041.04: 3.8%Tract 2042.00: 4.1%Tract 2043.00: 7.9%Tract 2044.00: 6.7%Tract 2045.00: 5.4%Tract 2046.00: 5.9%Tract 2047.01: 7.8%Tract 2047.02: 5.3%Tract 2048.00: 6.7%Tract 2049.00: 6.5%Tract 2050.00: 3.7%Tract 2051.00: 5.2%Tract 2052.00: 7.0%Tract 2053.00: 5.1%Tract 2054.01: 4.6%Tract 2054.02: 6.1%Tract 2055.01: 5.2%Tract 2055.02: 5.7%Tract 2055.03: 6.7%Tract 2056.00: 5.1%Tract 2057.00: 5.1%Tract 2058.05: 5.8%Tract 2058.06: 5.0%Tract 2058.07: 4.8%Tract 2058.08: 6.0%Tract 2058.09: 5.8%Tract 2058.10: 4.7%Tract 2058.11: 3.2%Tract 2059.03: 6.1%Tract 2059.04: 7.3%Tract 2059.05: 4.0%Tract 2059.06: 5.0%Tract 2060.04: 5.3%Tract 2060.05: 6.2%Tract 2060.06: 11.0%Tract 2060.07: 5.6%Tract 2061.04: 4.7%Tract 2061.05: 5.9%Tract 2061.06: 5.7%Tract 2061.07: 6.5%Tract 2061.08: 4.8%Tract 2062.01: 6.4%Tract 2062.02: 5.5%Tract 2063.00: 4.7%Tract 2064.00: 5.3%Tract 2065.01: 4.4%Tract 2065.02: 5.3%Tract 2066.00: 7.6%Tract 2067.03: 7.0%Tract 2067.04: 5.8%Tract 2068.01: 6.8%Tract 2068.02: 6.2%Tract 2069.01: 6.5%Tract 2069.04: 8.4%Tract 2069.05: 5.4%Tract 2069.06: 6.7%Tract 2070.01: 6.1%Tract 2070.03: 7.4%Tract 2070.04: 6.7%Tract 2071.01: 7.0%Tract 2071.03: 6.0%Tract 2071.04: 9.9%Tract 2072.01: 5.8%Tract 2072.02: 6.2%Tract 2073.00: 6.8%Tract 2074.00: 6.2%Tract 2075.00: 6.9%Tract 2076.00: 7.8%Tract 2078.00: 6.5%Tract 2079.00: 8.8%Tract 2080.00: 6.1%Tract 2081.00: 5.8%Tract 2082.01: 7.4%Tract 2082.03: 6.2%Tract 2082.04: 6.5%Tract 2083.01: 8.1%Tract 2083.03: 5.8%Tract 2083.04: 5.0%Tract 2084.00: 9.0%Tract 2085.00: 6.7%Tract 2086.01: 5.9%Tract 2086.03: 5.8%Tract 2086.04: 5.9%Tract 2087.02: 6.9%Tract 2087.03: 7.4%Tract 2087.04: 7.0%Tract 2088.01: 6.1%Tract 2088.02: 8.3%Tract 2089.01: 8.0%Tract 2089.03: 7.4%Tract 2089.04: 6.8%Tract 2089.05: 6.8%Tract 2089.06: 6.4%Tract 2090.00: 7.0%Tract 2091.00: 6.1%Tract 2092.01: 6.3%Tract 2092.02: 6.3%Tract 2101.00: 5.7%Tract 2102.00: 6.1%Tract 2103.00: 6.7%Tract 2104.00: 7.9%Tract 2105.00: 7.2%Tract 2106.00: 6.8%Tract 2107.00: 5.6%Tract 9800.00: no estimateTract 9801.00: 6.0%Tract 9802.00: no estimateTract 9803.00: no estimate HorshamUpper MerionLansdalePottstownNorristownAbingtonLower Merion

Not age-adjusted. Tract outlines: Census TIGERweb (2020 tracts). Town names show where places are.

Read this map with care. Tract figures are not age-adjusted, and coronary heart disease is far more common in older adults, so the map largely shows where older people live. Across the 216 tracts, the share of adults aged 65 and over accounts for about 48% of the variation in the figures. In the five tracts with the highest figures, 40.6% to 58.2% of adults were 65 or older, against 23.1% countywide.

TractAdultsAdults 65+Coronary heart diseaseHigh cholesterolHigh blood pressure
Lower Providence Township (tract 2060.06)2,89058.2%11.0%39.9%44.8%
Lower Moreland Township (tract 2001.06)1,74443.6%10.3%39.4%41.2%
Abington Township (tract 2015.01)3,15740.6%10.0%36.7%37.3%
Franconia Township (tract 2071.04)2,62446.7%9.9%40.8%43.8%
Upper Gwynedd Township (tract 2010.06)2,07748.9%9.0%38.5%36.7%
Conshohocken Borough (tract 2041.03)1,9245.8%2.2%19.0%15.6%
Upper Merion Township (tract 2058.11)2,35615.7%3.2%24.0%20.9%
Lower Merion Township (tract 2050.00)2,33011.6%3.7%22.3%19.3%
Conshohocken Borough (tract 2041.04)2,28713.8%3.8%24.6%22.6%
Upper Merion Township (tract 2059.05)3,10917.0%4.0%27.5%24.8%

Five tracts with the highest and five with the lowest coronary heart disease figures. Health measures: CDC PLACES 2024 release (coronary heart disease 2022; cholesterol and blood pressure 2021), not age-adjusted. Adults 65+: share of adults, Census ACS 2018-2022. All 216 tracts are in the tract CSV.

What this means

  • Montgomery County is in the middle of its region on heart disease deaths: below Philadelphia, Delaware County, Pennsylvania and the nation, above Chester and Bucks counties.
  • The decline seen in Philadelphia, Chester County and the state did not reach Montgomery County. Its rate in 2022-2024 was no lower than in 2018-2020.
  • On self-reported risk factors, Montgomery adults sit below the national figures. Lower risk factor rates and a flat death rate can sit side by side: the two measure different things, in different years.
  • Within the county, age is a large part of why some neighborhoods show more heart disease than others. A tract with many retirees will show a higher figure even if its residents are no less healthy for their age.
  • County figures cannot tell any one person their own risk. Our Cardio Res-Q Guide explains what common heart tests measure.

How we did this

Death rates. The CDC publishes county heart disease death rates for adults 35 and older (2022-2024 and 2018-2020 tables). They count deaths whose underlying cause is heart disease (ICD-10 codes I00-I09, I11, I13, I20-I51), age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population, as 3-year averages. County rates are spatially smoothed: the CDC blends each county with its neighbors to steady rates for small places. These tables come from the same national death records as CDC WONDER. We used them because WONDER’s query service does not return county data to automated requests, and every figure here can be downloaded from the tables directly.

Check. To test the smoothed rates, we took the Pennsylvania Department of Health death dataset (cause code 044, heart disease, all races, both sexes), whose latest year is 2023. We age-adjusted deaths at ages 35 and older to the same 2000 standard (SEER standard populations) and compared 2018-2020 with 2021-2023, using a two-sided test at the 95% level. Our 2018-2020 rates land within 3% of the CDC’s for every county and for the state.

Risk factors. CDC PLACES combines the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey with census data in a statistical model. We used the 2024 release (survey year 2022; high blood pressure, cholesterol and cholesterol checks 2021). The newer 2025 release has no Pennsylvania county estimates for these measures. County comparisons use age-adjusted figures; tract figures are only published crude.

Map. Tract outlines are 2020 census tracts from Census TIGERweb, simplified for the page. 3 tracts that cover parks and institutions have no estimate. Municipality names come from the 2020 county subdivision each tract’s center falls in. The age share uses Census ACS 2018-2022 table B01001.

Limits

  • PLACES figures are model-based estimates, not counts. Small differences between counties fall within their margins of error.
  • The measures cover different years: risk factors 2021 and 2022, deaths 2018-2020 and 2022-2024. The earlier period includes the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Smoothed county rates move less than raw counts. The unsmoothed state counts point the same way for every county named in the headline.
  • These are population figures. They do not show what causes any change, and they say nothing about any treatment or test.

Cite this study

YoungerMeMD. “Heart Risk in the Philadelphia Suburbs, County by County.” Published November 12, 2026. https://youngermemd.com/research/heart-risk-philadelphia-suburbs/

Data: county figures (CSV) and Montgomery County tracts (CSV). Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit to YoungerMeMD and a link to this page.

County numbers are not your numbers

These rates describe whole populations. Cardio Res-Q is our heart testing program; our team can tell you what it includes and whether it fits your history.

Learn About Cardio Res-Q Read the Cardio Res-Q Guide

This page reports public population data for general education. It is not medical or legal advice and does not describe any individual. Speak with a qualified clinician about your own health.