Medically Reviewed by Nayana Ambardekar, MD on December 12, 2021
How many people in the U.S. are allergic — to ragweed pollen, cat dander, or food? What sort of impact do allergies have on society? What about asthma? Here’s a rundown of some of the most important allergy statistics — based on the best available data.
- Percentage of adults who have allergies in the U.S.: 30%
- Percentage of children who have allergies in the U.S.: 40%.
- More than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies each year.
- Rank of allergies among other leading chronic diseases in the U.S.: 6th.
- One estimate of the annual cost of allergies to the health care system and businesses in the U.S.: $18 billion.
- Odds that a child with one allergic parent will develop allergies: 30% to 50%.
- Odds that a child with two allergic parents will develop allergies: 60% to 80%.
- Number of weeks by which the ragweed pollen season increased between 1995 and 2015 in U.S. and Canada, likely because of global warming: From 1 to 3 1/2.
- Number of people who visit the ER each year because of food allergies: 200,000.
- Percentage of the people in the U.S. who have a food allergy: roughly 11% of adults and 71/2% of children.
- Average amount of time that Americans spend indoors: 90%.
- Percentage of indoor pollutants in U.S. homes versus outdoor pollution: 2 to 5 times higher.
- Percentage of U.S. households with one or more dogs (2017-18): 48%.
- Percentage of U.S. households with one or more cats: (2017-18) 38%.
- Percentage of all U.S. households with detectable levels of dog and cat allergens: 90%.
- Percentage of children in the U.S. that have asthma: 7%.
- Percentage of adults in the U.S. that have asthma: 8%.
- Total number of Americans that have asthma: More than 25 million.
- Percentage of white children in the U.S. with asthma: 7.5%.
- Percentage of African-American children in the U.S. with asthma: 13.5%.
- Number of emergency room visits for asthma each year: 1.8 million.
- Number of deaths each year in the U.S. from asthma: About 3,500.
- Percentage of children in 2018 diagnosed with hay fever: 7.2%.
- Percentage of children in 2018 who reported skin allergies (eczema, hives) in previous 12 months: 9.2 million.
- Percentage of children in 2018 who reported food allergies in previous 12 months: 6.5% or 4.8 million.
- Percentage of adults in 2018 who reported hay fever in previous 12 months: 7.7%.
