Chronic pain affected 24.3% of U.S. adults in 2023, while 8.5% had high-impact chronic pain that limited life or work. These statistics use the CDC definition of pain on most or every day during the previous three months; high-impact pain adds a life or work limitation.
Key Chronic Pain Statistics
The following figures summarize the most useful measures across U.S. surveys, pain-management utilization data and global burden estimates:
- In 2023, 24.3% of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults aged 18 and older had chronic pain during the previous three months.
- In 2023, 8.5% of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults aged 18 and older had high-impact chronic pain.
- In 2023, 34.9% of U.S. adults with chronic pain had high-impact chronic pain.
- In 2021, 51.561 million U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults experienced chronic pain.
- In 2021, 17.100 million U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults experienced high-impact chronic pain.
- In 2021, 30.0% of U.S. adults aged 65–84 had chronic pain.
- In 2021, 34.3% of U.S. adults aged 85 and older had chronic pain.
- In 2023, 25.4% of U.S. women had chronic pain, compared with 23.2% of men.
- In 2023, 9.6% of U.S. women had high-impact chronic pain, compared with 7.3% of men.
- In 2023, 30.7% of non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native U.S. adults had chronic pain.
- In 2023, 11.8% of non-Hispanic Asian U.S. adults had chronic pain.
- In 2021, 23.8% of non-Hispanic White U.S. adults had chronic pain.
- In 2021, 18.8% of non-Hispanic Black U.S. adults had chronic pain.
- In 2020–2021, 6.4% of U.S. adults aged 18–64 filled an opioid prescription.
- In 2020–2021, 1.8% of U.S. adults aged 18–64 had four or more opioid fills or refills.
- In the 2019 Global Burden of Disease estimates, about 1.71 billion people worldwide had musculoskeletal conditions.
- In 2019, low back pain had about 570 million prevalent cases worldwide.
- In 2020, low back pain affected an estimated 619 million people worldwide.
- By 2050, global low-back-pain cases are projected to reach 843 million.
Contents
- Chronic pain prevalence and high-impact burden in the United States
- Chronic pain data by age and sex
- Chronic pain statistics by race, ethnicity and urbanization
- Chronic pain, health, disability and socioeconomic patterns
- Pain-management statistics and opioid prescription use
- Global chronic pain context: musculoskeletal and low-back-pain statistics
Chronic Pain Prevalence and High-Impact Burden in the United States
The CDC’s 2023 National Health Interview Survey found chronic pain in 24.3% of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults aged 18 and older. High-impact chronic pain affected 8.5% of this population, and represented 34.9% of adults who had chronic pain.
CDC/NCHS, “Chronic Pain and High-impact Chronic Pain in U.S. Adults, 2023” defines chronic pain as pain on most or every day in the previous three months; high-impact chronic pain additionally involves a life or work limitation on most or every day.
The 2021 CDC estimate provides a count as well as rates. Among U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults, an estimated 51.561 million experienced chronic pain and 17.100 million experienced high-impact chronic pain.
| U.S. measure | 2019 | 2021 | 2021 age-adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic pain | 20.4% | 20.9% | 19.7% |
| High-impact chronic pain | 7.4% | 6.9% | 6.4% |
The 2019–2021 figures come from the CDC’s “Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2019–2021”. Pandemic-era collection limitations affect this series, so the rates should not be treated as a simple uninterrupted trend.
Chronic Pain Data by Age and Sex
Chronic pain prevalence increased across the 2021 adult age groups in the CDC data, from 7.5% among adults aged 18–24 to 34.3% among adults aged 85 and older. The corresponding high-impact measure also rose with age, although the oldest group excludes people living in institutions.
| Age group, U.S. adults | Chronic pain, 2021 | High-impact chronic pain, 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| 18–24 | 7.5% | 1.3% |
| 25–44 | 13.7% | 3.5% |
| 45–64 | 26.8% | 10.0% |
| 65–84 | 30.0% | 10.4% |
| 85+ | 34.3% | 14.3% |
The age-specific figures are crude rates from the CDC’s 2021 demographic table, covering civilian noninstitutionalized adults. In the same year, chronic pain affected 22.0% of women and 19.7% of men, while high-impact pain affected 7.6% of women and 6.2% of men.
The newer 2023 CDC estimate similarly found higher prevalence among women: 25.4% had chronic pain versus 23.2% of men, and 9.6% had high-impact pain versus 7.3% of men. These are survey differences, not evidence that sex alone causes chronic pain.
Chronic Pain Statistics by Race, Ethnicity and Urbanization
The available supplied CDC figures describe racial and ethnic subgroup differences, but they do not establish causes. They also use different years and adjustment methods, so 2023 subgroup estimates should not be read as direct replacements for 2021 crude or age-adjusted rates.
| Group | Chronic pain, 2021 crude | High-impact pain, 2021 crude |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic Asian | 7.8% | 2.1% |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 18.8% | 7.9% |
| Non-Hispanic White | 23.8% | Not supplied |
| Hispanic/Latino | 15.4% | 5.3% |
The 2021 crude subgroup rates are reported by the CDC in “Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2019–2021”. For 2023, the CDC reported chronic pain among 30.7% of non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adults, 11.8% of non-Hispanic Asian adults and 17.1% of Hispanic adults.
No supplied statistic quantifies chronic pain by urbanization, so urban–rural comparisons are not included here. That distinction matters because the available data support race and ethnicity comparisons, not an unsupported urbanization conclusion.
Chronic Pain, Health, Disability and Socioeconomic Patterns
Age adjustment changes the comparison by accounting for differences in age structure. In 2021, age-adjusted chronic pain was 7.7% among non-Hispanic Asian adults, 18.2% among non-Hispanic Black adults, 21.8% among non-Hispanic White adults and 16.5% among Hispanic or Latino adults.
The corresponding age-adjusted high-impact chronic pain rates were 2.1% for non-Hispanic Asian adults, 7.6% for non-Hispanic Black adults, 6.5% for non-Hispanic White adults and 5.7% for Hispanic or Latino adults. These are population-level survey measures and should not be interpreted as individual diagnoses or causal relationships.
The CDC definition makes the disability relevance explicit: high-impact chronic pain is chronic pain accompanied by a life or work limitation on most or every day. The supplied dataset does not provide separate quantified rates for employment, income, medical spending or other socioeconomic outcomes, so those outcomes are not assigned numerical values here.
Pain-Management Statistics and Opioid Prescription Use
AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey measured outpatient opioid fills among U.S. adults aged 18–64 during 2020–2021. It estimated 12.7 million adults, or 6.4%, filled an opioid prescription, while 3.6 million adults, or 1.8%, had four or more opioid fills or refills.
| Opioid-use measure, U.S. adults 18–64 | Estimate, 2020–2021 |
|---|---|
| Any opioid prescription fill | 12.7 million; 6.4% |
| Four or more fills or refills | 3.6 million; 1.8% |
The AHRQ source is “Any Use and Frequent Use of Opioids among Adults Aged 18–64 in 2020–2021”. These fills may have been for acute or chronic pain, so opioid utilization is not a measure of chronic-pain prevalence or misuse.
Any opioid use was 7.7% for women and 5.0% for men aged 18–64; frequent use was 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively. By reported race and ethnicity, any use was 7.5% for non-Hispanic White adults, 7.3% for non-Hispanic Black adults, 3.5% for Hispanic adults and 4.4% for non-Hispanic adults of other races, a residual grouping in the MEPS measure.
Global Chronic Pain Context: Musculoskeletal and Low-Back-Pain Statistics
Global figures provide context but are not a single worldwide chronic-pain total. WHO’s musculoskeletal estimates cover a broader group of conditions, while low-back-pain estimates describe one condition; some cases may not be chronic.
In the 2019 Global Burden of Disease estimates summarized by WHO, musculoskeletal conditions affected about 1.71 billion people worldwide and caused about 149 million years lived with disability, or 17% of global YLDs. Low back pain accounted for about 570 million prevalent cases and 7.4% of global YLDs.
The WHO “Musculoskeletal health” summary also estimated 528 million people with osteoarthritis, 222 million with neck pain, 18 million with rheumatoid arthritis and 54 million with gout worldwide in 2019. These are condition-specific estimates rather than a combined chronic-pain count.
WHO’s “Low back pain” fact sheet estimated 619 million people had low back pain worldwide in 2020. It projects 843 million cases by 2050, reflecting population growth and ageing, and estimates that about 90% of low-back-pain cases are nonspecific; nonspecific cause is not the same as chronicity.