Online Searchable Death Indexes for the USA

Includes Obituaries, Cemeteries & the Social Security Death Index

SSDI and Obituaries

Social Security Death Index (SSDI) the majority of the records in the Social Security Death Index are for deaths that occurred after about 1962

Obituaries Archive Search online archive of recent obituaries from over 1,000 newspapers, some dating back to the 1980s - you can obtain copies of individual obituaries online for a fee

Obituary Daily Times a database that indexes over 12 million obituaries (index only)

Death Indexes For Individual States and Counties

Items marked "requires payment" are part of Ancestry.com's online U.S. genealogy records collection, which you can try with a free trial.

Alabama...

Alabama Death Index 1908-1959 (requires payment)

Bibb County Cemeteries
Jefferson County: Birmingham Area Newspapers Obituaries Index, August 1957-December 1976
Jefferson County: Birmingham Genealogical Society Research Materials includes Angwin Mortuary Index 1906-1975 & Birmingham, Alabama cemeteries
Winston County Death Records, Obituaries & Wills

Arizona...

Arizona Death Index 1878-1957 & Birth Index 1887-1932 includes PDF images of the birth & death certificates
For more Arizona death indexes by county, see the first link in the General Section below

Arkansas...

Arkansas Death Index 1914-1950 (requires payment)
Arkansas Cemeteries by County (not complete, but has many cemeteries listed)
For some individual Arkansas county listings see the first link in the General Section below

California...

California Death Index 1940-1997
Pre-1905 California Death Index Project for assorted counties

For more California death indexes see...
- Online California Death Indexes, Records and Obituaries
  includes listings for Los Angeles, San Francisco, and many other California cities and counties; also has information about a California birth index

Colorado...

The Colorado section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Colorado Death Indexes & Records

Connecticut...

Connecticut Death Index 1949-2001 (requires payment) 1.4 million entries

Delaware...

Delaware Probate Index Database

Florida...

Florida Death Records Index 1877-1998 (requires payment) records for Florida deaths before 1917 are spotty

For more Florida death indexes by county, see the first link in the General Section below

Georgia...

The Georgia section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Georgia Death Indexes & Records

Idaho...

Idaho Death Index 1911-1951 (at Rootsweb)
Idaho Death Index 1911-1951 (at Ancestry - part of an Ancestry subscription)
Eastern Idaho Obituary Index (134,000 entries)

Illinois...

The Illinois section has moved to...

Online Illinois Death Indexes & Records

For Cook County & Chicago Death Indexes see...

Online Chicago & Cook County, Illinois Death Records Indexes & Obituaries

Indiana...

The Indiana section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Indiana Death Indexes & Records

Iowa...

See the first link in the General Section below

Kansas...

See the first link in the General Section below

Kentucky...

Kentucky Death Index 1911-2000 at Ancestry part of an Ancestry subscription, which also includes:
a KY birth index 1973-1999, a KY marriage index 1911-1999 and digitized Kentucky death certificates 1911-1953
Kentucky Death Index 1911-2000 at Rootsweb
Kentucky Death Index 1911-1992 from the University of Kentucky (also has marriages & divorces 1973-1993)
Kentucky Cemetery Records Database not complete, but worth a look if you have KY ancestors

Louisiana...

Louisiana Statewide Death Index 1900-1949 (requires payment)

Baton Rouge Newspapers Obituaries Index 1952-1959 & 1980-1991
New Orleans Death Index 1804-1915
New Orleans, Louisiana Death Records Index, 1804-1949 (requires payment)
New Orleans Death Index 1837-1857 & 1870 from the Daily Picayune
New Orleans (Orleans Parish) Probate Index 1805-1846
New Orleans Times-Picayune Obituaries Index 1994-July 2003 from the Jefferson Genealogical Society
Jefferson Parish Library Times-Picayune Obituary Notices Index 1972-1978
Washington Parish Obituaries Indexes (Word documents)

Maine...

Maine Death Index 1960-1997 (Rootsweb)
Maine Death Index 1960-1997 (part of an Ancestry subscripton - requires payment)
Maine Death Index 1960-1996 (Maine State Archives)
Cumberland County: Snow Index to Brunswick Newspapers 1853-1960 includes obituaries & marriages
Penobscot County: Dexter, Maine Obituaries 1944-present includes full obituaries

Maryland...

Maryland Death Index 1898-1944

Baltimore City Death Index 1875-1972

For more Maryland death indexes by county, see the first link in the General Section below

Massachusetts...

Massachusetts Death Index 1970-2003 (requires payment)
Massachusetts Town Death Records Before 1850 90,000 entries (requires payment)
The above 2 databases are included in a subscription to Ancestry's US genealogy records collection
Massachusetts Death Index 1841-1910 has year of death only (copies of death records can be ordered by mail for a fee)
Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts Burials Search 55,000 entries

Barnstable County: Gravestone Records from the 15 Towns of Cape Cod 1683-1860 ongoing project
Bristol County: Walter-Blake Graveyard Burials Taunton, Massachusetts
Middlesex County: Vital Records for the Town of Natick 1874-1913
Middlesex County: Billerica Cemeteries some with online transcriptions
Plymouth County: Town of Middleboro Vital Records Index 1649-1945 (downloadable PDF files) also has cemetery listings and other records
Suffolk County...
- Massachusetts Obituaries Archive Search includes the Boston Globe 1980-present & the Boston Herald 1997-present (you can obtain copies of the obituaries online for a fee)
- Boston Globe & Herald Obituary Index 1971-1974 & 1983-2002 full length obituaries only, no death notices
- Boston Jewish Advocate Obituary Database

Michigan...

The Michigan section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Michigan Death Indexes & Records

Minnesota...

Minnesota Death Certificate Search 1904-2001 from the Minnesota Historical Society

Minnesota Death Index 1908-2002 (requires payment - part of an Ancestry subscription, which also includes a Minnesota Birth Index 1935-2002 & Minnesota Marriage Records Index 1958-2001, except 1996)

Dakota County...
- Dakota County Obituaries & Cemeteries obituary index covers about 1860s-present
- Dakota County Newspaper Index 1980-present includes obituaries
Hennepin County...
- St. Mary's Cemetery - Burials 1874-1894 (Catholic cemetery in Minneapolis)
- Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis - Burial Search 1872-present
Olmsted County: City of Rochester Death Index 1871-1940 also includes probate & obituaries Indexes
Pennington County Historical Society Obituaries & Cemeteries Search includes some listings for Red Lake County & Marshall County
Red Lake County: St. Joseph Area Catholic Cemetery Database
St. Louis County...
- St. Louis County, Minnesota Death Records Index 1870-2000
- Duluth Public Library Obituary Index indexes obitiuaries from the Duluth News-Tribune & Duluth Herald newspapers 1962-present
Stearns County: St. Cloud Daily Times Obituary Index 1998-present
Wabasha County Cemetery Records Index

Mississippi...

Missouri...

The Missouri section has moved to its own webpage...

Online St. Louis and Missouri Death Records Indexes
Includes resources for the state of Missouri, St. Louis, and many Missouri counties

Montana...

Montana Death Index 1907-2002 part of an Ancestry subscription (requires payment) not complete for some early years

Nebraska...

See the first link in the General Section below

Nevada...

Carson City: Nevada Appeal Obituaries and Carson Appeal Newspaper Index obituaries index covers 1996-present; newspaper index covers 1865-1886 (some years missing)
Douglas County Vital Records 1862-1923 (requires payment)
Mineral County Death Index
Pershing County Record of Deaths 1919-1936
Storey County Death & Birth Indexes 1862-1903 (requires payment)

New Hampshire...

New Hampshire Probate Records, 1635-1753
Belknap County: New Hampton Cemetery Burials (PDF files)
Carroll County: Conway Death Records 1887-1930 (also has birth & marriage records indexes)
Rockingham County: Hampton Cemeteries & Other Genealogy Records

New Jersey...

See the first link in the General Section below

New Mexico...

New Mexico Death Index 1899-1940
Assorted New Mexico Death Indexes by County (most are for the early 20th Century)
Also see: New Mexico Genealogy Resources and Records

New York...

New York City...
- New York City Death Index 1891-1948 includes: 1891-1894 Manhattan Only; 1895-1897 Manhattan & Brooklyn Only; 1898-1948 All Boroughs
- New York Times Obituaries and Birth, Marriage & Death Notices 1851-2001 (requires payment)
- New York City Deaths, 1892-1902 (requires payment) some years are missing
- New York Times Obituaries Archive Search June 1980-present (you can obtain copies of the obituaries online for a fee)
- Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1841-1902 searchable newspaper articles, including obituaries
- Brooklyn: Green-Wood Cemetery Burial Search 1850-present

New York State (and more NYC listings)...
- See: Online New York Death Indexes and Records

North Carolina...

North Carolina Death Index 1968-1996 also has partial coverage for 1908-1967 (requires payment)
For more North Carolina death indexes listed by county see: North Carolina Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries

North Dakota...

North Dakota Death Index 1881-present you must search in 10 year increments or less; 1881-c.1924 is incomplete

Cass County: Fargo Forum Obituaries Database (covers 1901-1904 & 1984-1995)
Cass County Probate Records Index 1876-1944
Stutsman County Death Indexes 1893-1940s

Ohio...

The Ohio section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Ohio Death Indexes & Records
includes full state indexes, plus obituaries and cemeteries for Cincinnati, Cleveland and many other Ohio cities and counties

Oklahoma...

Tulsa World & Tulsa Tribune Death Notice Index 1965-1990 with more being added
Tulsa Funeral Home Index
For more Oklahoma listings see the first link in the General Section below

Oregon...

Oregon Death Index 1903-1998 (requires payment)
Oregon Death Index 1903-1930
Oregon Historical Records Index includes Portland deaths 1881-1917 and many other records

Pennsylvania...

Eastern Pennsylvania Obituaries Index 1800s-2000 (60,000 entries)
For some Pennsylvania county listings see the first link in the General Section below

Rhode Island:

Rhode Island Death Index 1630-1930 (requires payment - part of an Ancestry subscription)
Historical Cemeteries Transcription Master Index (about 95% complete for 1647-1900; less than half of the 20th century gravestones have been added)

South Carolina...

The South Carolina section has moved to its own webpage...

Online South Carolina Death Indexes & Records

South Dakota...

South Dakota Death Index 1905-1955 (requires payment)

Tennessee...

The Tennessee section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Tennessee Death Indexes and Records

Texas...

The Texas section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Texas Death Indexes and Records
includes a full state index 1903-2000, plus death or obituary indexes for Dallas, El Paso, Harris, Tarrant & many other Texas counties

Utah...

Utah Death Index 1905-1956 includes digitized images of the death certificates
Utah Death Index 1905-1951 (requires payment - part of an Ancestry subscription)

Utah State Historical Society Burials Database more than 600,000 listings from various Utah Cemeteries
Utah Digital Newspapers

Vermont...

Vermont Death Index 1981-2001 (requires payment)

Vermont Chronicle Death & Marriage Notices 1800s

Virginia...

The Virginia section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Virginia Death Indexes & Records

Washington...

Washington Death Index 1940-1996 (requires payment)

Washington State Digital Archives includes a Social Security Death Index for the State of Washington; mortality schedules 1860-1880; WA death index 1907-1909, and some cemetery and death indexes for individual counties

Archdiocese of Seattle Cemeteries Search Engine (Burials in Catholic Cemeteries) includes the following Cemeteries: Holyrood, Calvary, Gethsemane & St. Patrick - you must register before making a search
Clark County Auditor Document Index includes some death records
Tacoma (Pierce County) Obituary Index 1984-the present (also includes some listings from 1930-1983)
Wenatchee Area Obituary Index 1905-2001 (except 1930-1939) Chelan & Douglas Counties

West Virginia...

West Virginia Death Index 1917-1956 has earlier records for some counties; also includes some birth and marriage indexes

West Virginia: Jackson County Obituaries (mostly early to mid 20th century)

Wisconsin...

The Wisconsin section has moved to its own webpage...

Online Wisconsin Death Indexes & Records

Wyoming...

Albany County Obituaries Index 1868-1964
Campbell County: Newspaper Index to Births, Marriages & Deaths
Fremont County: Cemeteries & Funeral Home Records
Sheridan County GenWeb Site includes birth, marriage, death & cemetery records

General Section

If you don't find what you want here, try this more comprehensive listing of online death indexes...

Online Death Indexes, Records and Obituaries
(includes some state and county listings not included here)

General Cemetery Burial Indexes

Rootsweb's Cemetery Database
user submitted data with names of burials in numerous cemeteries
Veterans Affairs Burial Search
U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006 (fee-based - part of an Ancestry subscription)

Online Death Certificates: Article about Online Death Certificates (or digitized ledgers) for Arizona, Georgia, Illinois (Chicago & Cook County), Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Texas, Utah, Washington & West Virginia (coverage varies)

The Reason for This Webpage: Searching for Anthony Nelke, My Grandfather