Heart disease statistics at a glance
Heart disease is still a massive public health story, but the numbers show a more detailed picture than a single death total can capture. The latest figures point to a disease burden that spans mortality, costs, age, sex, behavior, and related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, sleep, obesity, and tobacco use.
Fast facts
- 683,491 heart disease deaths in the United States in 2024 (CDC FastStats).
- 375,476 coronary heart disease deaths in the United States in 2021 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 1 in 20 US adults age 20 and older have coronary artery disease, about 5% (CDC Heart Disease Facts).
- Heart disease was ranked the number 1 cause of death in the United States in 2024 (CDC FastStats).
- Someone in the United States has a myocardial infarction about every 40 seconds (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- The estimated direct and indirect cost of heart disease in the United States was $252.2 billion in 2019 to 2020 average annual spending (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Key takeaways
- Heart disease is not only common. It is also expensive, persistent, and tied to multiple risk factors that affect a large share of adults.
- The burden is uneven across age groups and demographic groups, which matters for prevention, screening, and treatment planning.
- Several related conditions already affect tens of millions of adults, which means the risk pool is broad before a heart event ever happens.
Heart disease deaths and mortality trends
The death counts are the clearest sign of scale. In 2024, heart disease caused 683,491 deaths in the United States and was the number 1 cause of death (CDC FastStats). That single figure is a strong reminder that heart disease remains a dominant mortality driver, even when other major diseases compete for attention.
The American Heart Association data gives a slightly different lens on the same burden. Coronary heart disease caused 375,476 deaths in the United States in 2021 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance), and cardiovascular disease listed as the underlying cause of death accounted for 931,578 deaths in the United States in 2021 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Those numbers are not interchangeable, but together they show how much of the country’s mortality is concentrated in heart and vascular disease.
Big mortality signals
- Heart disease deaths were 201.0 per 100,000 population in the United States in 2024 (CDC FastStats).
- From 2011 to 2021, the annual death rate attributable to coronary heart disease declined 15.0% in the United States (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- From 2011 to 2021, the actual number of coronary heart disease deaths increased 0.05% in the United States (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
That combination matters. A declining death rate suggests progress, but the nearly flat change in total deaths shows how population size, aging, and other pressures can keep the absolute burden high.
Incidence, attacks, and who is affected first
Death counts tell only part of the story. A large number of people also experience heart attacks and new coronary events each year.
The AHA estimates that the annual incidence of heart attack in the United States was 605,000 new attacks based on 2005 to 2014 data, and the annual incidence of recurrent heart attack was 200,000 based on the same period (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). It also estimates that approximately every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a myocardial infarction (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Age at first event is another useful clue. The average age at the first heart attack was 65.6 years for males and 72.0 years for females (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). That gap suggests that first-event timing is not identical across sexes, and it helps explain why prevention and screening often need to account for different life-course patterns.
At a glance: attack and first-event measures
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Annual heart attack incidence | 605,000 new attacks | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Annual recurrent heart attack incidence | 200,000 | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Average age at first heart attack, males | 65.6 years | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Average age at first heart attack, females | 72.0 years | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Myocardial infarction frequency | About every 40 seconds | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
Why this matters
- A high recurrent attack count means surviving a first event does not remove the burden.
- The first-event age gap underscores how risk accumulates differently over time.
- A frequent event cadence means prevention is not a niche issue. It is a continuous one.
Heart disease statistics by related cardiovascular categories
Heart disease does not sit alone. A large share of the burden belongs to the broader cardiovascular disease category, and the breakdown of cardiovascular deaths shows which conditions contribute most.
In 2021, coronary heart disease accounted for 40.3% of cardiovascular disease deaths in the United States (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Stroke accounted for 17.5%, other cardiovascular disease accounted for 17.1%, high blood pressure accounted for 13.4%, heart failure accounted for 9.1%, and diseases of the arteries accounted for 2.6% (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Cardiovascular death share breakdown
| Cause category | Share of cardiovascular disease deaths in 2021 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Coronary heart disease | 40.3% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Stroke | 17.5% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Other cardiovascular disease | 17.1% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| High blood pressure | 13.4% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Heart failure | 9.1% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Diseases of the arteries | 2.6% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
The share breakdown shows that heart disease statistics are also hypertension statistics, stroke statistics, and heart failure statistics. Prevention efforts that ignore those overlaps are missing much of the actual burden.
Prevalence in US adults
The prevalence numbers show how large the at-risk and affected population already is before a death or attack happens.
Between 2017 and 2020, 127.9 million US adults had some form of cardiovascular disease, which was 48.6% of US adults (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). That means nearly half of US adults were already living with some cardiovascular condition in that period.
Other prevalence measures reinforce the point:
- 122.4 million US adults had hypertension and 46.7% of US adults had hypertension (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 86.4 million US adults had total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL or higher and 34.7% had that level or above (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 24.7 million US adults had total cholesterol of 240 mg/dL or higher and 10.0% had that level or above (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 63.1 million US adults had low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of 130 mg/dL or higher and 25.5% had that level or above (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 41.3 million US adults had high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of less than 40 mg/dL and 16.9% had that level or below (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Quick comparison table
| Condition or measure | Adults affected | Percent of adults | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any cardiovascular disease | 127.9 million | 48.6% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Hypertension | 122.4 million | 46.7% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Total cholesterol 200 mg/dL or higher | 86.4 million | 34.7% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| LDL cholesterol 130 mg/dL or higher | 63.1 million | 25.5% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| HDL cholesterol less than 40 mg/dL | 41.3 million | 16.9% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Total cholesterol 240 mg/dL or higher | 24.7 million | 10.0% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
What the prevalence data suggests
- The condition burden is not rare enough to be treated as a small high-risk subgroup problem.
- Blood pressure and cholesterol remain central because the affected population is already very large.
- Public health messaging has to reach people who may not feel sick but already carry measurable risk.
Demographic differences in heart disease and cardiovascular risk
Some of the most useful numbers in the dataset are the ones that show how burden concentrates across groups.
Among US adults with some form of cardiovascular disease between 2017 and 2020, 59.0% of non-Hispanic Black females had some form of cardiovascular disease and 58.9% of non-Hispanic Black males had some form of cardiovascular disease (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Those values are striking because they sit well above the overall prevalence figures and point to persistent disparities.
The CDC also notes that heart disease was the leading cause of death for people in most racial and ethnic groups in the United States (CDC Heart Disease Facts). It was second only to cancer for women from the Pacific Islands and Asian American, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic women (CDC Heart Disease Facts).
Death share by race and ethnicity in 2021
| Group | Share of deaths caused by heart disease | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Black non-Hispanic people | 22.6% | CDC Heart Disease Facts |
| Asian people | 18.6% | CDC Heart Disease Facts |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people | 18.3% | CDC Heart Disease Facts |
| White non-Hispanic people | 18.0% | CDC Heart Disease Facts |
| American Indian or Alaska Native people | 15.5% | CDC Heart Disease Facts |
| All people | 17.4% | CDC Heart Disease Facts |
| Hispanic people | 11.9% | CDC Heart Disease Facts |
This table is not a ranking of overall health. It is a snapshot of how much heart disease contributes to mortality across groups, and the spread is wide enough to matter for outreach, screening, and treatment access.
Reading the disparity pattern
- A single national average hides important differences in burden.
- Group-specific mortality shares show that heart disease is not distributed evenly.
- Prevention plans that rely on generic messaging risk missing the groups with higher burden.
Tobacco, physical activity, sleep, and other risk factors
Risk factor statistics make the heart disease picture more actionable. They show where prevention efforts can intervene before disease advances.
Tobacco remains a major driver. In the United States, smoking was the leading risk factor for years of life lost to premature mortality in 2019 and the third leading risk factor for years of life lived with disability or injury in 2019 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). The AHA also estimates that more than 480,000 Americans die each year as a result of cigarette smoking and more than 41,000 Americans die each year from secondhand smoke exposure (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Secondhand smoke adds risk even for non-smokers. It was associated with an 18% increased risk for total mortality, a 23% increased risk for total cardiovascular disease, a 23% increased risk for coronary heart disease, and a 29% increased risk for stroke (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Tobacco use snapshot
- 16.5% of US high school students reported current tobacco product use in 2022 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 4.5% of US middle school students reported current tobacco product use in 2022 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 14.1% of US high school students used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days in 2022 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 3.3% of US middle school students used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days in 2022 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
- 11.5% of US adults reported cigarette use every day or some days in 2022 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Physical activity also matters. In 2020, 24.2% of US adults met the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans for aerobic activity (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance), while in 2019 44.1% of US high school students were physically active for 60 minutes or more on at least 5 days per week (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Sleep is another relevant category. In 2020, 32.8% of US adults reported insufficient sleep of less than 7 hours (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Among adults older than 65, the share was 27.3% of females and 24.7% of males (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Also in 2020, 43.7% of US adults reported waking up feeling well rested on some days or never, and 24.3% reported trouble falling or staying asleep on most or all days during the last 30 days (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Obesity, diet, diabetes, and blood pressure
Metabolic risk factors are among the most important heart disease statistics because they are so common and so tightly connected.
Using 2017 to 2020 data, 41.8% of US adult males and 41.8% of US adult females had obesity, while 6.6% of males and 11.7% of females had severe obesity (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Worldwide, high body mass index was attributed to 3.69 million deaths in 2021, and those deaths were 46.7% higher than in 2010 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Diet quality also appears uneven across age groups. Using AHA Life’s Essential 8 scoring, diet scores across demographic groups ranged from 23.8 to 47.7 out of 100 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Among children ages 2 to 5, the mean diet score was 61.1 out of 100, while among children ages 12 to 19, it was 28.5 out of 100 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Diabetes is one of the clearest heart disease companions. Between 2017 and 2020, 29.3 million US adults had diagnosed diabetes and 10.6% of US adults had diagnosed diabetes (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Another 9.7 million had undiagnosed diabetes and 3.5% had undiagnosed diabetes (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). Meanwhile, 115.9 million US adults had prediabetes and 46.4% had prediabetes (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Diabetes and blood pressure table
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnosed diabetes | 29.3 million adults | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Diagnosed diabetes prevalence | 10.6% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Undiagnosed diabetes | 9.7 million adults | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Undiagnosed diabetes prevalence | 3.5% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Prediabetes | 115.9 million adults | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Prediabetes prevalence | 46.4% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Hypertension | 122.4 million adults | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| Hypertension prevalence | 46.7% | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
| US deaths primarily attributable to high blood pressure in 2021 | 124,508 | AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance |
The blood pressure data is especially important because hypertension is both widespread and deadly. In 2021, 124,508 US deaths were primarily attributable to high blood pressure, and the age-adjusted US death rate primarily attributable to high blood pressure was 31.3 per 100,000 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Costs and health system burden
Heart disease statistics are not just clinical. They are economic.
The AHA estimates that the direct and indirect cost of heart disease in the United States was $252.2 billion in 2019 to 2020 average annual spending (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). For total cardiovascular disease, direct costs were $254.3 billion in 2019 to 2020 and indirect costs were $168.0 billion in lost productivity and mortality (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance).
Cardiovascular disease also accounted for 12% of total US health expenditures in 2019 to 2020 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). That is a useful frame because it turns heart disease from an individual health event into a system-wide cost center.
Economic pressure points
- High prevalence drives ongoing treatment costs.
- Recurrent events add burden after the first diagnosis.
- Lost productivity and mortality costs extend the impact beyond the health system.
Global heart disease and cardiovascular disease statistics
The burden is not limited to the United States.
The AHA reports that cardiovascular disease accounted for approximately 19.91 million global deaths in 2021 (AHA 2024 Statistics Update At-a-Glance). The WHO estimated 19.8 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2022, and those deaths represented approximately 32% of all global deaths in 2022 (WHO CVD fact sheet).
Other global markers reinforce the scale:
- About 85% of cardiovascular disease deaths were due to heart attack and stroke (WHO CVD fact sheet).
- Over three quarters of cardiovascular disease deaths took place in low- and middle-income countries (WHO CVD fact sheet).
- Approximately 80% of the world’s deaths from cardiovascular diseases occur in low- and middle-income countries (WHO CVD fact sheet).
- At least 38% of the 18 million premature noncommunicable disease deaths under age 70 in 2021 were caused by cardiovascular diseases (WHO CVD fact sheet).
- About 2% of cardiovascular disease deaths are related to rheumatic heart disease globally (WHO CVD fact sheet).
WHO target context
The WHO’s global action plan aimed to reduce premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases by 25% by 2025 (WHO CVD fact sheet). It also set goals to reduce global prevalence of raised blood pressure by 25% between 2010 and 2025, ensure at least 50% of eligible people receive drug therapy and counselling to prevent heart attacks and strokes by 2025, and reach 80% availability of affordable basic technologies and essential medicines to treat major NCDs in public and private facilities (WHO CVD fact sheet).
These targets show how heart disease statistics fit into a wider prevention agenda. They are not just descriptive numbers. They are the baseline for action, capacity, and accountability.