An interactive visualization of medical costs of Medicare beneficiaries living with dementia from the U.S. Cost of Dementia project
The economic impact of dementia in the U.S. is large and rising as the population ages. As of 2025, about 5.6 million people are living with dementia at an estimated cost of $781 billion to families and society, according to the United States Cost of Dementia project.
About 30% ($232 billion) of the total $781 billion is medical and long-term care spending on people living with dementia, representing a large resource burden on health systems and families. The rest is attributable to the loss in quality of life of people living with dementia and their care partners, the value of hours of care provided by family and friends, and earning losses associated with caregiving.
This United States Cost of Dementia interactive visualization explores medical spending among Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) beneficiaries with diagnosed dementia from 2007 to 2022. Users may explore how medical spending of people living with dementia varies across time, U.S. states, population demographics, dual eligibility and care settings. The medical spending of Medicare beneficiaries without dementia may also be explored. All costs are adjusted to reflect 2025 dollars using the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Use the links below to navigate to a specific graph:
- Dementia Prevalence
- Per-Person Medical Costs by U.S. States and Territories
- Per-Person Annual Costs by Beneficiary Characteristics
- Per-Person Medical Costs by Setting
Dementia Prevalence
Over the last two decades, the percent of the U.S. population with dementia has declined. However, the number of Americans living with dementia continues to rise as the population ages and more people live to the ages of highest dementia risk.
Prevalence significantly increases with age: In 2022, over 25% of adults in Medicare FFS between ages 86-90 have dementia compared with just under 5% of the population ages 71-75.
By race: About 13% of Black beneficiaries ages 65 and older have dementia, the highest rate among racial and ethnic groups.
Explore how prevalence has changed over time and across demographic groups in the graphs below.
Per-Person Medical Costs by U.S. States and Territories
Medical costs for Medicare FFS beneficiaries with dementia vary substantially across U.S. states and territories, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For example, in 2022, New York’s per-person medical spending is $57,000, almost twice as high as in the lowest spending state, Vermont ($30,000).
Tool note: States are ordered from highest to lowest per-person dementia-related medical costs. “Non-dementia” includes medical costs for all people without dementia. The map visualization displays medical costs for people with dementia only.
Per-Person Annual Costs by Beneficiary Characteristics
Dementia-related costs vary by sex, age, and race and ethnicity (top panel), as well as by rurality and Medicaid eligibility (bottom panel). People who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid have lower per-person costs than Medicare-only beneficiaries—for example, in 2022, per-person costs were about $40,000 for dual-eligible beneficiaries compared with $54,000 for those with Medicare only.
Per-Person Medical Costs by Setting
Total medical costs for Medicare FFS beneficiaries with dementia reached $54 billion in 2022. Per-person spending was $43,600 in 2022. Outpatient ($12,900 per person) and inpatient care ($12,200 per person) represent the largest shares of per-person spending for beneficiaries with dementia.
Tool note: Prescription costs shown include both the amount that Part D plans covered and the amount that beneficiaries paid (including coinsurance, copays, deductibles, etc.) in a given year. The noticeable change in 2010 is due to a decline in the amounts that beneficiaries paid.
About the Data
Data comes from the 100% sample of Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries. Percent of beneficiaries in FFS has been changing over time. The restricted data was accessed through a data use agreement (DUA) with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. All results were reviewed for compliance with the DUA by ResDAC prior to export from the data enclave. Data will be updated as new annual Medicare files become available; results currently reflect data through 2022.
“Dementia” is used to broadly refer to Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease–related dementias (AD/ADRD). Dementia diagnoses are based on ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for AD/ADRD and using the Schaeffer Dementia Algorithm to verify diagnoses. Black, AIAN, Asian, and White race categories are non-Hispanic people.
Additional methodological details, including the full list of ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes used, definitions, data sources, and the costs included in the analysis, are provided in the Methods Documentation.
About the U.S. Cost of Dementia project
The project provides comprehensive, national, annual estimates of the total costs of dementia and builds national research capacity to address the economic consequences of dementia. It is funded by a cooperative agreement with the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health through grant U01AG086827.
