Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the United States: Age Groups and Demographic Characteristics
Prevalence of Past-Year Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)
People Ages 12 and Older
Image
According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 29.5 million people ages 12 and older (10.6% in this age group) had AUD in the past year.1,2 This includes:
- 16.6 million males ages 12 and older (12.1% in this age group)1,2
- 13.0 million females ages 12 and older (9.1% in this age group)1,2
- 18.7 million White people ages 12 and older (11.0% in this age group)1,2
- 3.5 million Black or African American people ages 12 and older (10.1% in this age group)1,2
- 280,000 American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 12 and older (15.6% in this age group)1,2
- 144,000 Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 and older (14.0% in this age group)1,2
- 982,000 Asian people ages 12 and older (6.0% in this age group)1,2
- 790,000 people of two or more races ages 12 and older (14.7% in this age group)1,2
- 5.1 million Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 and older (10.3% in this age group)1,2
Youth Ages 12 to 17
Image
According to the 2021 NSDUH, 894,000 youth ages 12 to 17 (3.4% in this age group) had AUD in the past year.1,2 This includes:
- 298,000 boys ages 12 to 17 (2.2% in this age group)1,2
- 596,000 girls ages 12 to 17 (4.7% in this age group)1,2
- 526,000 White youth ages 12 to 17 (4.0% in age group)1,2
- 48,000 Black or African American youth ages 12 to 17 (1.4% in this age group)1,2
- 31,000 youth of two or more races ages 12 to 17 (3.4% in this age group)1,2
- 235,000 Hispanic or Latino youth ages 12 to 17 (3.5% in this age group)1,2
- Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and Asian youth ages 12 to 17 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2
Adults Ages 18 and Older
According to the 2021 NSDUH, 28.6 million adults ages 18 and older (11.3% in this age group) had AUD in the past year.1,2 This includes:
- 16.3 million men ages 18 and older (13.2% in this age group)1,2
- 12.4 million women ages 18 and older (9.5% in this age group)1,2
- 18.2 million White adults ages 18 and older (11.5% in this age group)1,2
- 3.4 million Black or African American adults ages 18 and older (11.1% in this age group)1,2
- 270,000 American Indian or Alaska Native adults ages 18 and older (16.7% in this age group)1,2
- 118,000 Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander adults ages 18 and older (13.4% in this age group)1,2
- 964,000 Asian adults ages 18 and older (6.4% in this age group)1,2
- 759,000 adults of two or more races ages 18 and older (17.0% in this age group)1,2
- 4.9 million Hispanic or Latino adults ages 18 and older (11.4% in this age group)1,2
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), caution should be used when comparing estimates from the 2020 and 2021 NSDUH to those from prior years due to methodological changes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, data for NSDUH were collected during in-home visits, using computer-assisted techniques. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a delay in data collection during 2020 and the introduction of web-based data collection, with very limited in-person data collection. The criteria used to categorize AUD among respondents also changed in 2020 from the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) to the fifth edition (DSM-5), resulting in some differences in whom is classified as having AUD. Specifically, DSM-5 criteria could lead to a diagnosis of AUD for some respondents with too few symptoms to be diagnosed using DSM-IV criteria. Because these changes in data collection coincided with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and any related behavioral or mental health changes, we cannot fully separate the effects of methodological changes from true changes in the outcomes. Please see the Methodological Summary and Definitions [PDF – 4 MB] for more information.