Where Is Mesothelioma Most Common? 2026 State-by-State Rankings

Mesothelioma does not occur evenly across the United States. Where people live, where they worked, and what industries dominated their region all shape the risk. CDC data through 2022 shows clear geographic patterns: states with shipbuilding histories, heavy manufacturing, and mining operations consistently report the highest rates.

The data below draws from CDC U.S. Cancer Statistics and the SEER program. These are the most current figures publicly available.

The Top 20 States by Total Cases (2022)

The raw case count tells only part of the story. California leads because it has 39 million residents. On a per capita basis, smaller industrial states tell a different story.

Per Capita: Where the Risk Is Highest

When adjusted for population, the industrial Midwest and Northeast dominate. These states share a common thread: decades of heavy manufacturing where asbestos was woven into the infrastructure of daily work.

Wisconsin’s paper mills used asbestos extensively in insulation and processing equipment. Pennsylvania’s steel industry relied on asbestos for fireproofing and pipe insulation. Minnesota’s Iron Range miners encountered asbestos-contaminated ore. Michigan’s automotive plants used asbestos in brake pads, clutch facings, and factory insulation.

Why Certain States Rank Higher

The geographic concentration of mesothelioma maps directly to three types of historical asbestos exposure:

Shipyard States

Naval shipbuilding is the single largest contributor to mesothelioma in the United States. Ships built before 1980 contained asbestos in over 300 components, from pipe insulation to engine room gaskets. States with major shipyards consistently rank among the highest:

• Maine: Bath Iron Works and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Maine has the highest mesothelioma death rate per million residents in the country, at 22.06 per million.
• Virginia: Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Newport News Shipbuilding.
• Washington: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Bremerton facilities.
• New Jersey: Multiple shipyards along the Delaware River and Newark Bay.

Industrial Belt States

The Rust Belt corridor from Pennsylvania through Wisconsin carries elevated rates tied to steel production, automotive manufacturing, and heavy industry:

• Pennsylvania: Bethlehem Steel, Pittsburgh’s steel mills, and Philadelphia’s industrial corridor.
• Ohio: Cleveland, Akron, and Toledo manufacturing. Ohio reported 134 cases in 2022 with a per capita rate of 1.15.
• Michigan: The automotive industry in Detroit used asbestos in vehicles and factory infrastructure.
• Wisconsin: Paper mills and manufacturing facilities across the Fox River Valley.

Mining States

• Montana: The Libby, Montana vermiculite mine contaminated an entire town with tremolite asbestos. The EPA declared Libby a Superfund site, and the community’s mesothelioma rates remain among the highest per capita in the country.
• Minnesota: The Iron Range mining district in northern Minnesota exposed miners to naturally occurring asbestos in iron ore.
• California: Naturally occurring asbestos has been documented in 42 of the state’s 58 counties.

The 20-Year Trend

The national trend is a slow decline. In 2003, the U.S. reported 3,247 new mesothelioma cases. By 2022, that number dropped to 2,669. The decline reflects reduced occupational exposure since the 1980s, when federal regulations restricted asbestos use.

But the decline is not steep. Mesothelioma has a latency period of 20 to 50 years between exposure and diagnosis. People exposed to asbestos in the 1970s and 1980s are still being diagnosed today. The CDC projects that cases will continue at elevated levels through at least the 2030s.

Urban areas have seen a steeper decline (2.0% annually) compared to suburban areas (1.5% annually), likely reflecting earlier adoption of workplace safety regulations in metropolitan centers.

What This Means for Statute of Limitations

Each state sets its own statute of limitations for mesothelioma claims. The filing deadline varies from one year to six years after diagnosis, depending on where the exposure occurred or where the claimant lives.

State-by-State Resources

Every state has its own exposure history, legal landscape, and available resources. Explore the data for your state:

Highest-risk states: California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina

Elevated per capita rates: Washington, Virginia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee, Missouri

Military/shipyard states: Maine, Connecticut, Hawaii, Mississippi

Mining exposure: Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada

For information on asbestos trust funds available in your state or compensation options, see our legal resource guides.

Methodology

This analysis uses data from CDC U.S. Cancer Statistics (USCS), the most comprehensive cancer surveillance system in the United States. Per capita rates are calculated per 100,000 population using 2022 Census Bureau estimates. Historical trends draw from CDC WONDER mortality data (1999 to 2021) and SEER incidence data (2003 to 2022).

Case counts represent new diagnoses (incidence), not deaths. Because mesothelioma has a poor prognosis, mortality figures closely track incidence, but they are not identical.