Objective: To examine whether the 30-day Risk-Standardized Mortality Rate (RSMR) of hospitals across the US are associated with neighborhood Socioeconomic Status (SES).

Data sources: Secondary data were collected from the US Census Bureau, Centre

Study design: Income data, mortality rates and RSMRs were gathered from their respective databases. These data were compared in terms of income (SES) and stratified according to state or specific zip-codes. Linear regression, T-test and ANOVA were performed.

Principal findings: Both at the local and at the state level, as the SES increases, RSMR for myocardial infarction, heart failure and pneumonia were reduced. Mortality rates further showed a negative association between income and RSMR for all such causes. This trend was not observed for RSMR on readmission

Conclusions: As the SES of an area increases, the RSMR of the associated hospitals is reduced both at the local and at the state level across US. Such information may be helpful in resource allocation towards health improvement.