Abstract: Objective To understand the health status of the residents in Daishan and the major death causes among them, evaluate the health level of the residents and provide evidence for disease prevention and control. Methods The statistical analysis and comparison were conducted on the death cause data in the residents in Daishan from 1986 to 1988 and from 2009 to 2010. The international classification of diseases was used for death cause coding and the national standard population data in 2000 was used for standardizing mortality. Results The crude mortality in the residents was 657.46/lakh and 767.65/lakh respectively during the two periods, and the adjusted mortality was 699.37/lakh and 399.07/lakh. The adjusted mortality during 2009-2010 was lower. The mortalities in males were higher than those in females during the two periods (u=6.17,P0.01, u=7.48,P0.01). The first five death causes were malignant tumor, respiratory disease,injury/poisoning, cerebrovascular disease and digestive disease during 1986-1988, and malignant tumor, respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, heart diseases and injury/poisoning during 2009-2010, accounting for 77.74% and 84.33% of the total deaths respectively. The average life expectancy was 68.58 years and 75.80 years in males and 72.17 years and 81.76 years in females, which increased by 7.22 years and 9.59 years respectively. The average life expectancies in females were higher than those in males. Conclusion The major death causes in residents in Daishan were malignant tumor, respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, heart disease and injury/poisoning. Liver cancer was the leading death cause of cancer mortality, followed by gastric cancer.