Older Adult Falls Data
Falls are the leading cause of injury for adults ages 65 years and older. Over 14 million, or 1 in 4 older adults report falling every year. This chart shows the number of older adult fall-related deaths by month and year, including the most recent provisional data available. You can access the full interactive chart by clicking on the image or the button below.
Falls among adults aged 65 and older are common, costly, and preventable. Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among older adults.1
Learn more about the falls and fall death rates in your state, as well as the economic cost of falls.
In the United States, over 14 million, or one in four, adults ages 65 and older (older adults), report falling each year.2 While not all falls result in an injury, about 37% of those who fall reported an injury that required medical treatment or restricted their activity for at least one day, resulting in an estimated nine million fall injuries.3
While older adult falls are common across all states, there is variability.2
Select year from drop down to change visualization information.
Data source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) – https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/annual_data/annual_2020.html
*Age-adjusted percentages standardized to the 2000 U.S. population with age groups 65–74, 75–84, and ≥85 years using the direct method.
Note for grayed-out states on the 2012 map: In the 2012 BRFSS survey, Michigan, Oregon, and Wisconsin used a different falls question from the rest of the states. Therefore, the 2012 falls estimates could not be calculated for these states.
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among adults ages 65 and older, and the fall death rate is increasing.4 The age-adjusted fall death rate increased by 41% from 55.3 per 100,000 older adults in 2012 to 78.0 per 100,000 older adults in 2021.5,6
The rising number of deaths from falls among older adults can be addressed by screening for fall risk and intervening to address risk factors such as use of medicines that may increase fall risk, or poor strength and balance.
Select year from drop down to change visualization information.
Data source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Mortality 1999–2021 on CDC WONDER Online Database. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html
*Age-adjusted death rates standardized to the 2000 U.S. population with age groups 65–74, 75–84, and ≥85 years using the direct method.
**Rates are marked as “unreliable” when the death count is less than 20.
Falls among adults ages 65 and older are very costly. Each year about $50 billion is spent on medical costs related to older adult falls—fatal injuries total $754 million, and the remainder is attributed to non-fatal fall injuries.7
Non-fatal Falls
- $29 billion is paid by Medicare
- $12 billion is paid by private or out-of-pocket payers
- $9 billion is paid by Medicaid
As the number of Americans ages 65 and older grows, we can expect the number of fall injuries and the cost to treat these injuries to soar.
How Are State Costs Calculated?
Direct medical costs include fees for hospital and nursing home care, doctors and other professional services, rehabilitation, community-based services, use of medical equipment, prescription drugs, and insurance processing.8 Direct costs do not account for the long-term effects of these injuries, such as disability, dependence on others, lost time from work and household duties, and reduced quality of life.8
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web–based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [online].
- Kakara R, Bergen G, Burns E, Stevens M. Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years—United States, 2020–2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:938–943. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7235a1.
- Moreland B, Kakara R, Henry A. Trends in Nonfatal Falls and Fall-Related Injuries Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years—United States, 2012–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:875–881. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6927a5
- Kakara RS, Lee R, Eckstrom EN. Cause-Specific Mortality Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years in the United States, 1999 Through 2020. Public Health Rep. 2023 Mar 11:333549231155869. DOI: 10.1177/00333549231155869. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36905313.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Mortality 1999–2020 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999–2020, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed February 9, 2023.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Mortality 2018–2021 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 2018–2021, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed February 9, 2023.
- Florence CS, Bergen G, Atherly A, Burns ER, Stevens JA, Drake C. Medical Costs of Fatal and Nonfatal Falls in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2018 March, DOI:10.1111/jgs.15304
- Haddad YK, Bergen G, Florence CS. Estimating the Economic Burden Related to Older Adult Falls by State. Journal of Public Health Management Practice. 2019;25(2):E17–E24. DOI:10.1097/PHH.000000000000816
