Objective To investigate the death rate and life lost of the Xinjian district residents in Nanchang city, and to provide scientific evidence for the health administrators to formulate relevant policies and improve the life expectancy of the residents. Methods Based on the population and the death data in this area from 2011 to 2015, the mortality, the cause of death spectrum, the life expectancy, the life expectancy for death causes, the potential years of life lost (PYLL), the potential years of life lost rate (PYLLR), the average potential years of life lost (APYLL), the standardized potential years of life lost (SPYLL), the standardized potential years of life lost rate (SPYLLR) were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 software. Results From 2011 to 2015, the crude death rate of Xinjian district was 538.38/10 million, the standardized mortality rate was 563.00/10 million, the crude death rate of males is higher than that of females (χ2=788.91, P<0.01); the causes of death in the top five were follows: circulatory system diseases, tumor, respiratory system diseases, injury, endocrine, nutrition and metabolic diseases. The causes of death were in the same order whether in male or female. Mortality rates of different age groups showed that the mortality rates began to rise substantially after the age of 30, the main causes of death were different between the low age group and the high age group. The life expectancy of residents was 78.38 years, the PYLL for all causes of death was 129 087.5 years, the PYLLR was 39.84‰, the APYLL was 17.44 years, the SPYLL was 134 057.00 years, the SPYLLR was 38.61‰. The PYLL caused by injury was 46 191.5 years, the PYLLR was 14.26‰, APYLL was 33.14 years, of which were all ranked first. The SPYLL caused by tumor was 48 414.95 years, the SPYLLR was 13.94‰, of which were ranked first. Conclusion The mortality rate of Xinjian district residents is higher than that of Nanchang urban residents, but lower than the average level of Jiangxi province and the whole country. Life reduction analysis shows that chronic non-communicable diseases and injuries are the main causes of death for residents in the area. The three levels prevention is of great significance to reduce the death of residents and improve their life expectancy.