Asthma Prevalence in the United States

Although the percentage of children with asthma is on the decline, African-American communities and those living in underserved areas still feel a disproportionate burden. The information below highlights the percentage of people in the United States who have been diagnosed with asthma as well as the rate of asthma-related deaths, based on a 2015 CDC study.1, 2

CharacteristicAll Ages TotalChildren Age < 18Adults Age > 18Death Rate, per million
White Non Hispanic
7.8
7.4
7.9
8.4
White Non Hispanic: Male
6.3
8.7
5.6
n/a
White Non Hispanic: Female
9.3
6
10.1
n/a
Black Non Hispanic
10.3
13.4
9.1
23.9
Black Non Hispanic: Male
8.9
16
6
n/a
Black Non Hispanic: Female
11.5
10.8
11.7
n/a

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reports the following data for asthmatics living in the United States:

11.1% live of asthmatics below the poverty line

21% of people with asthma smoke cigarettes

13.8 million school days missed by children in 2013 due to asthma

9 people die each day from asthma

15% increase in the prevalence of asthma in the past decade

2 million visits to emergency departments with asthma as the primary diagnosis

Did you know?3

  • Black children are two times more likely than white children to have asthma.
  • Multi-race and black adults are more likely than white adults to have asthma.
  • Adults with an annual household income of $75,000 or less are more likely than adults with higher incomes to have asthma.
  • Adults who didn’t finish high school are more likely to have asthma than adults who graduated from high school or college.

SOURCES
1 “2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data: Table 3-1: Current Asthma Population Estimates — in thousands by Age, United States.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last modified January 21, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2015/table3-1.htm

2 “2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data: Table 4-1: Current Asthma Prevalence Percents by Age, United States.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last modified January 21, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2015/table4-1.htm

3 National Center for Health Statistics. “Asthma.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last modified January 21, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/asthma.htm

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