Stroke statistics: Prevalence and risk factors

In this article:

• How common are strokes in the U.S.?
• Stroke mortality rates in the U.S.
• Who is most at risk for stroke? Racial and demographic disparities
• What are the most common risk factors for stroke?
• Statistics by age
• Statistics by gender
• Recurrence statistics
• Economic cost of stroke
• How to reduce your risk
• Expert takeaway
• FAQs

In this article

• How common are strokes in the U.S.?
• Stroke mortality rates in the U.S.
• Who is most at risk for stroke? Racial and demographic disparities
• What are the most common risk factors for stroke?
• Statistics by age
• Statistics by gender
• Recurrence statistics
• Economic cost of stroke
• How to reduce your risk
• Expert takeaway
• FAQs

Someone has a stroke every 40 seconds in the U.S., and every 1 out of 5 strokes is fatal. Stroke becomes more common with age, but anyone can have a stroke, even children and in utero fetuses. The good news is that most strokes can be prevented by managing certain health conditions, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The following stroke statistics offer some perspective for what’s at stake and how you might protect yourself.

How common are strokes in the U.S.?

• Someone has a stroke every 40 seconds in the U.S. (American Medical Association (AMA), 2026)
• Americans have more than 795,000 strokes every year, and about 77% of those are first-time strokes. (AMA, 2026)
• Most (87%) of strokes are ischemic, meaning a clot blocks blood flow to the brain, causing brain cells to die from lack of oxygen. (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
• The remaining 13% of strokes are called hemorrhagic strokes. They occur when a blood vessel bursts in the brain, starving brain cells of oxygen. (Johns Hopkins Medicine)

Stroke mortality rates in the U.S.

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), someone in the U.S. dies of a stroke every 3 minutes and 14 seconds.

• About 7 million people die from stroke worldwide each year. (International Journal of Stroke, 2025) 
• Not counting infectious diseases, stroke is the second-leading cause of death globally. (International Journal of Stroke, 2025)
• The global stroke mortality rate has increased by 44% over the last three decades. (International Journal of Stroke, 2025)
• In 2024, 37.7 out of every 100,000 people died from stroke in the U.S. (National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), 2026)
• In New York, 23.7 out of every 100,000 people died from stroke in 2024, which is the lowest stroke mortality rate in the U.S. (NCHS, 2026).
• Delaware has the highest stroke mortality rate: 62.6 out of every 100,000 people. (NCHS, 2026)
• About 17.5% of all cardiovascular deaths in the U.S. are caused by stroke. (CDC, 2024)
• Having a stroke decreases a person’s life expectancy by about 5.5 years. (Stroke, 2022)
• Hemorrhagic strokes are more deadly than ischemic strokes. (Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 2019)

Who is most at risk for stroke? Racial and demographic disparities

In the U.S., non-Hispanic Black people face a significantly higher risk of stroke than any other race. The risk is especially high among Black men living in the South.

• Black people are at least two times more likely to have a stroke compared to white people. (Brain and Behavior, 2025)
• Hispanic people face a higher risk of stroke than non-Hispanic people. (Brain and Behavior, 2025)
• Stroke risk decreases as household income increases. (Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, 2021)
• Black and Hispanic people are more likely to have strokes at younger ages. (Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, 2021)
• Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander people face the highest risk of in-hospital death of any ethnicity. (Neuroepidemiology, 2024)
• Non-Hispanic Black people have the longest hospital stays, on average, for stroke care. (Neuroepidemiology, 2024)
• Hispanic people incur the highest average hospital charges per stay. (Neuroepidemiology, 2024)
• Sickle cell disease, which is most prevalent in Black people, increases the risk of stroke. (Brain and Behavior, 2025)
• In the U.S., stroke is most common in the South and least common in the Northeast. (NCHS, 2024)
• A middle-aged Black man living in the South is four times more likely to have a stroke than a middle-aged White man living in the Northeast. (NCHS, 2024)

What are the most common risk factors for stroke?

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), up to 90% of strokes can be prevented by controlling certain risk factors. Here are the top four:

• High systolic blood pressure: This is the most significant risk factor for most types of stroke. Nearly 60% of people who die from ischemic stroke have high systolic blood pressure. (Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), 2025)
• High LDL cholesterol: More than one in four ischemic stroke deaths are associated with high LDL cholesterol. (JAHA, 2025)
• High fasting blood sugar: More than 18% of people who die from ischemic stroke have high fasting blood sugar. (JAHA, 2025)
• Outdoor air pollution: Exposure increases the risk of ischemic stroke death. It’s associated with about 17% of such deaths. (JAHA, 2025)

Other top risk factors for ischemic stroke around the world, according to JAHA, include:

• Kidney dysfunction
• Smoking
• Eating too much salt
• Indoor air pollution from burning solid fuel (i.e., coal, charcoal, wood)
• Lead exposure
• Low body temperature
• High alcohol use
• High body mass index
• Low physical activity
• Secondhand smoke
• A diet low in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Some risk factors vary by gender. For example, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and high alcohol use are more likely to be associated with ischemic stroke deaths in men. (JAHA, 2025)

Stroke risk factors may also vary by age. One study found that low physical activity, high blood pressure, heavy alcohol use, and smoking were the top risk factors for stroke among adults younger than 55 years old. (Stroke, 2017)

When risk factors are out of your control, they’re called non-modifiable. Non-modifiable risk factors for stroke include age, sex, genetics, and having a prior stroke.

Stroke statistics by age

The risk of stroke increases with age, but it’s possible to have a stroke at any age.

• Strokes can happen in the womb starting around the 20th week of pregnancy. (Stroke Association)
• Perinatal stroke affects one in every 4,000 newborns. (Stroke, 2019)
• Childhood stroke, defined as a stroke occurring between 1 month and 18 years of age, affects anywhere from 3 to 25 children out of every 100,000. (Stroke, 2019)
• More than half of all strokes occur in people younger than 70. (International Journal of Stroke, 2025)

Stroke statistics by gender

• Strokes occur more often in men, but women face a higher lifetime risk of stroke because they live longer, and the risk of stroke increases with age. (NHLBI)
• Men ages 45 to 64 are more likely to die from stroke compared to women of the same age. (NCHS, 2024)
• About 53% of strokes occur in men. (International Journal of Stroke, 2025)
• Women have more strokes than men in the 75-and-up age group. (Journal of Stroke, 2023)
• Being pregnant significantly increases a woman’s risk of stroke. (Circulation, 2021)
• Nearly 8% of pregnancy-related deaths are caused by stroke in the U.S. (Circulation, 2021)
• Men and women can show different stroke symptoms. Women commonly experience nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, agitation, confusion, fainting, and sudden weakness. (AMA, 2026)
• About 6% of all female deaths and 4% of all male deaths are attributed to stroke. (Journal of Stroke, 2023)
• Compared to men, women tend to be in worse health overall when they have their first stroke. (Journal of Stroke, 2023)

Stroke recurrence statistics

Most people who have a stroke have never had one before. But if they have, their second (or third, etc.) stroke is called a recurrent stroke:

• Nearly 25% of all strokes occur in people who have previously had a stroke. (CDC, 2024)
• Hemorrhagic (bleeding) strokes are more likely to occur more than once compared to ischemic (blockage) strokes. (Stroke, 2022)
• Nearly 10% of people experience another stroke within three months of their first, 11% within one year, 20% within five years, and 27% within 10 years. (Stroke, 2022)
• Medication can lower the risk of recurrent stroke, but medication adherence is a challenge. Many people forget to take their medication. (Frontiers in Neurology, 2021)
• A person’s second stroke is more likely to cause disability compared to their first stroke. (The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Neurosurgery, 2021)

Economic cost of stroke

Stroke is an expensive condition to treat and often requires a lengthy hospital stay. But there are other costs associated with stroke, including loss of income and the cost of informal caregiving. Here are some quick statistics about the cost of stroke care in the U.S. and worldwide:

• The global cost of stroke is about $890 billion per year and rising. (International Journal of Stroke, 2025).
• In the U.S., stroke costs more than $103 billion per year. (Journal of Medicine and Life, 2021)
• The average stroke patient spends 11 to 27 days in the hospital. (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021)
• Up to 66% of U.S. stroke costs can be traced back to lost productivity or premature loss of life. (Journal of Medicine and Life, 2021)
• Every dollar invested in stroke prevention yields an ROI of $10. (International Journal of Stroke, 2025)
• The U.S. spends the most money on stroke care, at about $59,900 per patient per year. Sweden spends the next-highest amount at $52,725 per patient per year. (Journal of Medicine and Life, 2021)
• According to some estimates, the cost of stroke care per person reaches over $120,000 in the U.S. and is predicted to cost more than $287,000 per person by 2030. (Neuroepidemiology, 2024)
• Stroke care costs an average of $17,520 per patient per year in Australia, which is three times less than the cost of stroke care in the U.S. (Journal of Medicine and Life, 2021)
• Hemorrhagic strokes cost more than any other type of stroke. (Journal of Medicine and Life, 2021)
• It’s less expensive to treat any type of stroke in younger people than in older people. (Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, 2021)
• Medicaid beneficiaries tend to have the longest hospital stays and the highest bills compared to stroke patients with other types of insurance. (Neuroepidemiology, 2024)
• The average hospital charge tends to be four to five times higher than the actual cost of providing stroke care. (Neuroepidemiology, 2024)

How to reduce stroke risk

“The good news is that many strokes are preventable,” says Sirisha Vadali, MD, a board-certified cardiologist based in Phoenix, Arizona. “The biggest factors people can focus on are controlling blood pressure, managing cholesterol, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, staying physically active, avoiding tobacco, and prioritizing quality sleep.”

A healthy diet plays a key role in stroke prevention because it can help stabilize blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. “Small, sustainable lifestyle changes practiced over years can dramatically reduce the likelihood of experiencing a stroke,” Dr. Vadali says. “Prevention is always easier than recovery.”

For some people, recovery involves taking medication. If concerns about affordability stop you from asking a medical provider for help or taking your medication as intended, consider using a SingleCare prescription discount card to keep costs low.

If you suspect a stroke, call 911 immediately. A stroke is a medical emergency, and timely care significantly affects recovery. The acronym to remember is B.E.F.A.S.T.:

• Balance loss
• Eyesight changes
• Face drooping
• Arm weakness
• Speech difficulty
• Time to call 911

Expert takeaway

“If you are concerned that you or someone near you is having a stroke, call 911. This alerts the emergency medical system, and care starts when they arrive at the scene. The EMS personnel can alert the emergency room staff and stroke care team to streamline evaluation and start treatment,” notes Leslie Greenberg, MD, associate professor of Community and Family Medicine at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, and member of the SingleCare Medical Review Board.

Frequently asked questions

How many people have strokes each year?

More than 795,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke each year.

What percentage of strokes are fatal?

According to cause of death data from the NCHS, 166,852 people died of stroke in 2024. That means about 21% of strokes are fatal in the U.S.

What is the most common type of stroke?

Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke. It happens when a blood clot or atherosclerotic plaque prevents the brain from getting enough blood and oxygen.