Kentucky has the highest cancer rates in the United States.
Posted by The Joe Rogan Experience, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
The Joe Rogan ExperienceNov 6, 2026
Kentucky ranks first among US states for overall all-sites cancer incidence in the primary State Cancer Profiles data (2018-2022), and USAFacts reports it also led in cancer deaths. The claim's loose wording ('cancer rates') is best read as overall incidence, which the sources support; the sources' data predate the 2026-11-06 posting date but show the same ranking.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… It's it's a massive issue, and Iowa has the it's the second highest cancer rates in the country, which means the world. If you look at a map of where glyphosate's used and then a map of cancer in the United States, it's almost identical. What has the first highest? Kentucky. And the same thing? Yeah, they're like the same farmland. Yeah, yeah, it's all it's all the farm states. Yeah. And is it a specific type of cancer, or is it just no, I think it's not Hopkins lymphoma. Is a big one, just like that young man got on his neck. …
The Joe Rogan Experience · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. State Cancer Profiles ranks Kentucky first for age-adjusted all-sites cancer incidence (519.0 per 100,000, 2018-2022), ahead of Iowa (2nd) and West Virginia (3rd).[1]
Supports. USAFacts, citing CDC data, reports Kentucky had the highest age-adjusted new cancer incidence in 2022 (512.0 per 100,000) and the highest cancer mortality in 2023.[4]
Supports. World Population Review's 2023 state ranking also places Kentucky first on new cases per 100,000, and a 2026 Reuters item quotes an Iowa official saying Iowa 'ranks second behind Kentucky in cancer incidence.'[5][6]
Supports. The NCI HDPulse comparison places Kentucky in the 'stable and above US rate' category for all cancer sites, consistent with it being above the national average.[2]
Context. The claim does not specify a cancer type or measure. Kentucky's lead is clearest for all-sites incidence and all-cancer mortality; for specific cancers such as lung cancer, SEER shows Kentucky also highest in male lung cancer mortality, while other cancer types may rank differently.[3][7]
Sources
7 sources: 3 primary, 4 not rated
- 1State Cancer Profilesstatecancerprofiles.cancer.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Incidence Rate Trend Comparison for US by State - HDPulsehdpulse.nimhd.nih.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Browse the SEER Cancer Statistics Review (CSR) 1975-2017seer.cancer.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 4Which states have the highest cancer rates? - USAFactsusafacts.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Cancer Rates by State 2026worldpopulationreview.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Iowa's cancer rates are rising as the nation's fall. Families want answers.rmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7Cancer Facts & Figures 2026cancer.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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