Asthma and Black/African Americans

• From 2019–2021, an estimated 4.2 million non-Hispanic Black or African Americans in the United States currently had asthma.1
• Non-Hispanic Black or African American adults were 30% more likely to have asthma than non-Hispanic white adults in 2023.2
• Non-Hispanic Black or African American children were twice as likely to have asthma than non-Hispanic white children in 2023.3
• In 2021, non-Hispanic Black or African American adults were 2.5 times more likely to die from asthma-related causes than non-Hispanic white adults.4
• In 2021, the asthma mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black or African American children was almost 8 times higher than that of non-Hispanic white children.5
• In 2020, Non-Hispanic Black or African American children were almost five times more likely to be admitted to the hospital for asthma than non-Hispanic white children.6

Prevalence

Current asthma among adults age 18 and over, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
11.6	9.2	1.3

Adults age 18 and over who have ever been told they have asthma, percentage, 2018
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	13.1	12.2	1.1
Women	15.8	16.2	1.0
Both Sexes	14.7	14.2	1.0

Current asthma among children under 18 years of age, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
11.1	5.6	2.0

Children under 18 years of age who have ever been told they have asthma, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
14.7	8.8	1.7

Current asthma among children under 18 years of age, percentage, 2019–2021
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
11.6	5.5	2.1

Death Rate

Asthma mortality among adults age 18 and over, rate per million, 2021
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
29.7	11.8	2.5

Asthma mortality among children ages 0–17, rate per million, 2021
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
7.7	1.0	7.7

Treatment

Emergency department visits with asthma as the first listed diagnosis in the past 12 months among adults age 18 and over, rate per 10,000 population, 2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
80.6	13.7	5.9

Emergency department visits with asthma as the first listed diagnosis in the past 12 months among children ages 0–17, rate per 10,000 population, 2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
89.5	14.4	6.2

Hospital admissions for asthma among adults ages 18–39, rate per 100,000 population, 2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
54.3	15.4	3.5

Hospital admissions for asthma among children ages 2–17, rate per 100,000 population, 2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
79.4	16.6	4.8

People with current asthma who are now taking preventive medicine daily or almost daily, percentage, 2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
37.8	33.8	1.1

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1 CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance, Most Recent National Asthma Data. (Back to top)

2 CDC. National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults. Percentage of current asthma for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2023. (Back to top)

3 CDC. National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Children. Percentage of current asthma for children under 18 years, United States, 2023. (Back to top)

4 CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance, Most Recent National Asthma Data. (Back to top)

5 CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance, Most Recent National Asthma Data. (Back to top)

6 CDC, 2022. AHRQ. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. (Back to top)