States with the Lowest Rates of Skin Cancer

April 28, 2022

Does your state rank high or low when it comes to skin cancer?

A good friend of mine who lives in New Mexico recently made a shocking comment to me. She said she had heard that New Mexico has one of the lowest rates of skin cancer of all 50 states.

My mind raced. Surely, my incredibly well-educated, well-read, red-headed medical writer friend could not be WRONG but… something about this statement felt deeply flawed to me. I mean, having been in the skin care industry for so long, I know that most skin cancers are a result of sun damage, primarily sun burns. And from my fleeting knowledge of New Mexico, I can say with certainty 1/ it is in the southwest and 2/ it can get really hot.

So the idea that this hot and sunny state actually has one of the lowest rates of skin cancer made no sense.

Time to investigate.

And what I found was something I don’t admit to my husband very often. I was wrong.

Turns out the 3 states (depending on which report you read) with the lowest instances of skin cancer are New Mexico (Amy, I apologize for ever doubting you), Texas and, according to one report I read…. HAWAII! What?! All my assumptions now completely turned on their heads, it is time to do a little more analysis (with the help from some awesome medical journals along the way).

So here are some interesting tidbits that now make the entire puzzle just a little more logical.

Let’s start with the most important part of this conundrum: What causes melanoma and other forms of skin cancers?

The simple answer is that it is caused by exposure to UV rays. Severe sunburns damage the DNA of skin cells, causing new skin cells to grow out of control, resulting in cancerous cells. Thus it makes sense that the highest instances of skin cancer/melanoma would be in areas where the UV rays are the strongest. But you also have to account for other factors like percentage of the population that is active in outdoor activities, level of sun protection taken, indoor tanning (yikes!) and early detection.

The states withe the highest instances of skin cancer? Another head scratcher: Utah, Vermont and New Hampshire (sometimes, I will see Washington D.C. thrown in that list as well).

Here is another interesting piece of information: In one particular study I read, men had 160% more cases of skin cancer than women. Riddle me that one.

After reading NUMEROUS medical journals and articles on this subject, here is my take away, and one that I did not come up with myself:

The MAIN reason behind the fact that states with the strongest UV rays actually have the lowest rate of skin cancers is (drum roll): AWARENESS. Preparedness. Knowledge. Consistent action.

People in sun-drenched states know the dangers of the sun. They buy SPF clothing, they wear huge hats, stay in the shade, apply sunscreen religiously. They don’t go to tanning beds. Even the media in those states helps with the education. They have it drilled into them from day one that sun protection is a must.

On the flip side, those lovely mountains in Utah are sometimes drenched in inversion – keeping the clouds locked into one place and giving the population below the lovely illusion that the sun is not shining ABOVE the clouds and therefore, no sun protection is necessary. Bring on the UV burn, baby!

And as for that fact about men being more skin cancer prone than women? What gender more stereotypically takes care of their skin? Yup. Women. We buy all the fancy creams, go to the dermatologist, apply sunscreen religiously and try to stay out of the sun because we don’t want wrinkles.  From my personal experience, getting men to apply moisturizer on a daily basis is a tough job in and of itself!

So what is the take away we want you to have from reading this (if you stayed reading for this long!)?

Be prepared. Be knowledgable. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you “tan well.” Wear sunscreen on cloudy days. Wear sunscreen even if you aren’t going outside that day because 1/ it doesn’t hurt and 2/ you never know when your day’s plans may change. Wear your dorky big hat with pride. And above all else, if something looks weird on your skin, get it checked out immediately.

Questions? Comments?  Contact us at clearskin@ninjaskincare.com or call/text at 925.933.8425

 

STATES WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF MELANOMA

State	New case rate	Total new cases	Melanoma-related deaths
Utah	40.4	5,248	712
Vermont	37.6	1,505	68
New Hampshire	32.1	2,691	1,053
Minnesota	31.7	9,759	400
Delaware	29.5	1,722	4,479
Idaho	28.1	2,526	813
Montana	27.5	1,725	468
Oregon	27.5	6,602	161
Iowa	27.3	4,863	3,577
Kentucky	27.3	6,861	1,186
Georgia	26.7	14,136	133
Kansas	26.6	4,247	295
Nebraska	26.4	2,704	1,649
Maine	26.2	2,301	1,010
Washington	26.1	10,482	518
North Carolina	26	14,879	477
South Dakota	25.4	1,204	782
Florida	24.8	33,760	469
Arizona	24.5	9,802	248
Pennsylvania	24.3	19,119	674
Maryland	24	8,066	1,045
Wisconsin	24	8,098	1,361
Ohio	23.8	16,192	719
Rhode Island	23.7	1,532	362
North Dakota	23.6	937	985
South Carolina	23.6	6,847	168
California	22.9	47,477	288
Wyoming	22.9	758	413
Colorado	22.3	6,440	229
Massachusetts	22.3	8,969	1,177
New Jersey	22.3	11,689	287
Oklahoma	22.2	4,768	2,183
Hawaii	21.8	1,887	1,410
Arkansas	21.7	3,740	97
Indiana	21.7	7,989	1,923
Alabama	21.6	6,081	605
West Virginia	21.4	2,466	635
Connecticut	20.4	4,464	2,111
Illinois	20.4	14,634	154
Tennessee	20.3	7,710	667
Virginia	20.2	9,444	121
Michigan	20.1	11,681	1,122
Missouri	19.5	6,816	2,585
New York	18.3	20,910	380
Mississippi	17.8	2,943	103
Louisiana	17.6	4,460	1,125
Nevada	16.9	2,708	1,074
New Mexico	16	1,976	365
Alaska	14.3	483	851
Texas	13.1	17,482	102