U.S. population with a hospitalization 2000-2018 by age

In 2018, almost six percent of people aged 18 to 44 years in the United States were hospitalized at least once. Unsurprisingly, hospitalization among people aged 65 years and older was higher at almost 17 percent.

Hospital Stays

Hospitalization in the U.S. has been slowly increasing. In 2018, a total of 6.7 percent of people in the U.S. were hospitalized at least once. Hospitalization rates for females have been higher than males for the past two decades. In 2018, around seven percent of females were hospitalized, compared to only four percent of males. The average length of stay in a hospital is currently 5.4 days. However, this varies greatly by state. In Wyoming, for example, the average length of stay is 9.2 days, which is more than twice the average length of stay New York.

Hospital Costs

Community hospital expenses per inpatient stay in the United States have been constantly increasing. The average expenses for a community hospital per inpatient stay in 2018 was around 13,542 U.S. dollars. Expectedly, hospital care expenditure has also been increasing in the past two decades. In 2018, around 1.32 trillion U.S. dollars were spent on hospital care.