Over 1 million Americans are seeking treatment for substance use disorder—here’s how it breaks down by state
fizkes // Shutterstock
Over 1 million Americans are seeking treatment for substance use disorder—here’s how it breaks down by state
In 2020, more than 41 million Americans were classified as needing treatment for substance use, including 28 million with alcohol use disorder, 18 million with an illicit drug use disorder, and 6.5 million with both, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Over 97% of those 41 million did not believe that treatment was necessary. Perhaps this is, in part, why on a given day in 2020, just 2.7% of people were receiving treatment, including hospital inpatients, non-hospital residential clients, and outpatient clients who were seen at a facility for a substance use treatment, detoxification, or methadone or buprenorphine maintenance, or naltrexone treatment.
Citing one-day census data from the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services and state population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Zinnia Health identified the total number who received treatment—1,090,357 people (328.5 per 100,000) nationally, including 39,271 patients under 18— in each state and Washington D.C. This survey was taken on March 31, 2020, amid the start of COVID-19-related shutdowns. This is likely a contributing factor for states that saw significant decreases in people seeking treatment.
Those suffering from substance use disorders (SUD) have been severely impacted by the pandemic. According to the National Council for Behavioral Health, 54% of facilities that offered SUD services were shut down in September 2020, and 65% of those that remained open had to disrupt vital, often life-saving, services due to financial and operational hardships. From alcohol to opioids, substance use was both a way to cope with, and a behavior exacerbated by, the pandemic. In March 2020, opioid overdoses jumped 18% compared to the same period the previous year. Overdose deaths involving any drug rose by 30% in the first year of the pandemic.
Since the 1990s, opioids have been at the forefront of the substance use crisis in America—a deadly problem so pervasive that it is lowering the average life expectancy of Americans at a rate not previously seen since the country simultaneously faced World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic. In the past 22 years, more than 1 million people have died of a drug overdose, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Opioids began as an imperfect solution to pain management, followed by a period of negligent, profit-driven practices of false marketing and over-prescribing by physicians and pharmaceutical companies like Purdue Pharma. When newly imposed regulations made prescription painkillers too expensive or too difficult to get, heroin use—and related deaths—increased.
Today, America finds itself in a third wave, or iteration, of the opioid epidemic. This wave is characterized by a rise in usage and overdose deaths from deadlier synthetic opioids like fentanyl—a substance 50 times stronger than heroin. From 2013 to 2019, the synthetic opioid-involved death rate jumped by more than 1,000%. That’s an increase from 3,105 to 36,359 lives lost. Since 1999, more than half a million people have died from overdoses involving opioids.
There is rising awareness of opioid use and in some states, Narcan vending machines dispense drugs to treat opioid overdose. Meanwhile, the share of all facilities that offered medication-assisted treatment, such as drugs to curb withdrawal symptoms and drugs to block opioid-induced highs, increased from 9% in 2010 to 36% in 2020—indicative of the severity and prevalence of the country’s drug epidemic. Private for-profit facilities increased from 30% to 41% in the same timeframe. It is estimated that treatment and rehabilitation centers were a $42 billion industry in the U.S in 2020 alone.
While statistics around SUDs are often grim, the most important statistic is a positive one. Recent studies have shown that 75% of people with a SUD eventually enter recovery. Read on to see how the rates of people seeking treatment and the number of facilities providing SUD services have changed over the decade.
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
Alabama
– Patients seeking treatment: 11,838 (-25.7% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 235.6 (-28.3% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 171 (-78.3% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 155 (+5.4% change since 2011)
Daniel Case // Shutterstock
Alaska
– Patients seeking treatment: 3,213 (+13.1% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 438.1 (33.4% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 161 (-45.2% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 105 (+38.2% change since 2011)
Gregory E. Clifford // Shutterstock
Arizona
– Patients seeking treatment: 44,825 (+42.2% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 626.8 (90.8% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 2,043 (+20.0% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 447 (+104.1% change since 2011)
Eduardo Medrano // Shutterstock
Arkansas
– Patients seeking treatment: 4,464 (+31.3% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 148.2 (-54.9% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 269 (+115.2% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 171 (+180.3% change since 2011)
kropic1 // Shutterstock
California
– Patients seeking treatment: 70,034 (-47.2% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 177.1 (-46.1% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 2,287 (-82.1% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 1,734 (+5.8% change since 2011)
John Hoffman // Shutterstock
Colorado
– Patients seeking treatment: 30,083 (-22.7% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 521.0 (58.6% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 758 (-70.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 393 (-12.3% change since 2011)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
Connecticut
– Patients seeking treatment: 23,433 (-9.6% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 649.8 (97.8% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 395 (-35.5% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 210 (+11.7% change since 2011)
Real Window Creative // Shutterstock
Delaware
– Patients seeking treatment: 12,796 (+177.8% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 1292.6 (293.5% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 7 (-97.9% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 49 (+32.4% change since 2011)
pisaphotography // Shutterstock
Florida
– Patients seeking treatment: 45,620 (-10.9% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 211.8 (-35.5% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 1,965 (-47.2% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 712 (+15.4% change since 2011)
Brett Barnhill // Shutterstock
Georgia
– Patients seeking treatment: 17,642 (-19.1% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 164.7 (-49.9% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 376 (-55.5% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 348 (+39.8% change since 2011)
MNStudio // Shutterstock
Hawaii
– Patients seeking treatment: 3,354 (-24.9% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 230.5 (-29.8% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 494 (-63.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 161 (+35.3% change since 2011)
Charles Knowles // Shutterstock
Idaho
– Patients seeking treatment: 3,891 (-24.8% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 211.6 (-35.6% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 163 (-72.5% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 110 (+6.8% change since 2011)
f11photo // Shutterstock
Illinois
– Patients seeking treatment: 40,978 (-6.8% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 319.8 (-2.6% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 856 (-75.1% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 713 (+11.8% change since 2011)
KYPhua // Shutterstock
Indiana
– Patients seeking treatment: 43,865 (+74.2% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 646.4 (96.8% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 1,992 (+61.4% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 416 (+51.8% change since 2011)
QZ // Shutterstock
Iowa
– Patients seeking treatment: 8,013 (-10.7% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 251.2 (-23.5% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 438 (-46.0% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 185 (+46.8% change since 2011)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
Kansas
– Patients seeking treatment: 6,387 (-43.9% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 217.4 (-33.8% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 267 (-78.1% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 170 (-22.7% change since 2011)
f11photo // Shutterstock
Kentucky
– Patients seeking treatment: 27,353 (+33.6% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 607.1 (84.8% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 473 (-54.6% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 477 (+50.0% change since 2011)
TFoxFoto // Shutterstock
Louisiana
– Patients seeking treatment: 8,638 (-22.7% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 185.5 (-43.5% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 392 (-59.8% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 155 (+8.4% change since 2011)
Joseph Sohm // Shutterstock
Maine
– Patients seeking treatment: 10,299 (-4.4% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 756.0 (130.1% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 207 (-70.6% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 196 (-8.0% change since 2011)
Real Window Creative // Shutterstock
Maryland
– Patients seeking treatment: 35,115 (-9.5% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 568.5 (73.0% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 416 (-76.2% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 432 (+23.8% change since 2011)
lunamarina // Shutterstock
Massachusetts
– Patients seeking treatment: 52,270 (+11.5% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 743.5 (126.3% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 2,028 (+54.6% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 440 (+36.6% change since 2011)
Gerald Bernard // Shutterstock
Michigan
– Patients seeking treatment: 27,127 (-39.9% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 269.2 (-18.1% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 715 (-75.8% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 455 (-7.9% change since 2011)
Checubus // Shutterstock
Minnesota
– Patients seeking treatment: 15,899 (-8.4% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 278.6 (-15.2% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 338 (-62.1% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 401 (+27.3% change since 2011)
JayL // Shutterstock
Mississippi
– Patients seeking treatment: 4,032 (-30.6% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 136.2 (-58.6% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 31 (-93.9% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 105 (+7.1% change since 2011)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
Missouri
– Patients seeking treatment: 12,401 (-42.2% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 201.5 (-38.7% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 245 (-78.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 278 (-3.8% change since 2011)
Madison Kent // Shutterstock
Montana
– Patients seeking treatment: 4,976 (-49.7% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 458.9 (39.7% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 297 (-28.9% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 129 (+126.3% change since 2011)
Ken Schulze // Shutterstock
Nebraska
– Patients seeking treatment: 3,554 (-44.1% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 181.2 (-44.8% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 780 (-4.3% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 123 (0.0% change since 2011)
Andrey Bayda // Shutterstock
Nevada
– Patients seeking treatment: 7,249 (+.4% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 233.5 (-28.9% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 2,142 (+304.9% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 109 (+32.9% change since 2011)
Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock
New Hampshire
– Patients seeking treatment: 6,473 (+9.1% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 469.9 (43.0% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 107 (-75.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 109 (+101.9% change since 2011)
Kamira // Shutterstock
New Jersey
– Patients seeking treatment: 38,326 (+20.6% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 412.6 (25.6% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 814 (-57.6% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 383 (+6.1% change since 2011)
Herbert Heinsche // Shutterstock
New Mexico
– Patients seeking treatment: 18,111 (+43.0% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 855.3 (160.3% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 1,292 (+30.9% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 162 (+11.7% change since 2011)
Ryan DeBerardinis // Shutterstock
New York
– Patients seeking treatment: 113,028 (-8.1% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 559.5 (70.3% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 1,363 (-71.8% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 894 (-5.1% change since 2011)
Derek Olson Photography // Shutterstock
North Carolina
– Patients seeking treatment: 49,520 (+36.4% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 474.4 (44.4% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 2,183 (+8.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 611 (+40.1% change since 2011)
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
North Dakota
– Patients seeking treatment: 3,754 (+52.8% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 481.8 (46.7% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 158 (-39.0% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 87 (+50.0% change since 2011)
photo.ua // Shutterstock
Ohio
– Patients seeking treatment: 66,296 (+78.0% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 561.9 (71.0% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 3,162 (-5.4% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 619 (+66.0% change since 2011)
Maria_martinez // Shutterstock
Oklahoma
– Patients seeking treatment: 23,332 (+57.0% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 589.3 (79.4% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 981 (-37.6% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 195 (-1.0% change since 2011)
Kevin Bermingham // Shutterstock
Oregon
– Patients seeking treatment: 20,268 (-12.5% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 478.3 (45.6% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 841 (-49.1% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 247 (+5.1% change since 2011)
Tupungato // Shutterstock
Pennsylvania
– Patients seeking treatment: 66,969 (+25.5% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 515.0 (56.8% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 906 (-68.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 604 (+4.5% change since 2011)
Big Joe // Shutterstock
Rhode Island
– Patients seeking treatment: 8,609 (-11.6% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 784.5 (138.8% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 13 (-98.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 63 (+6.8% change since 2011)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
South Carolina
– Patients seeking treatment: 20,539 (+44.5% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 401.3 (22.1% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 823 (-44.4% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 124 (+18.1% change since 2011)
Steven Frame // Shutterstock
South Dakota
– Patients seeking treatment: 2,864 (-4.1% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 323.0 (-1.7% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 195 (-54.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 58 (0.0% change since 2011)
Brian Wilson Photography // Shutterstock
Tennessee
– Patients seeking treatment: 28,899 (+74.2% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 418.2 (27.3% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 1,094 (+14.2% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 311 (+49.5% change since 2011)
Joe Belanger // Shutterstock
Texas
– Patients seeking treatment: 35,995 (-2.4% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 123.5 (-62.4% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 1,216 (-53.1% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 509 (+7.2% change since 2011)
f11photo // Shutterstock
Utah
– Patients seeking treatment: 29,186 (+134.0% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 892.1 (171.5% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 686 (-54.6% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 333 (+129.7% change since 2011)
Erika J Mitchell // Shutterstock
Vermont
– Patients seeking treatment: 6,055 (+44.8% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 941.6 (186.6% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 24 (-92.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 52 (+23.8% change since 2011)
Sherry V Smith // Shutterstock
Virginia
– Patients seeking treatment: 25,609 (+17.8% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 296.7 (-9.7% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 364 (-77.7% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 249 (+16.9% change since 2011)
kan_khampanya // Shutterstock
Washington
– Patients seeking treatment: 44,959 (+9.4% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 583.5 (77.6% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: data not available
– Total facilities: 457 (+.9% change since 2011)
Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
Washington D.C.
– Patients seeking treatment: 1,761 (-57.7% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 255.4 (-22.3% lower than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 22 (-71.1% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 28 (-22.2% change since 2011)
Steve Heap // Shutterstock
West Virginia
– Patients seeking treatment: 10,109 (-5.6% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 563.6 (71.5% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 175 (-49.0% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 126 (+31.3% change since 2011)
Suzanne Tucker // Shutterstock
Wisconsin
– Patients seeking treatment: 25,574 (+31.7% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 433.9 (32.1% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 664 (-42.6% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 295 (+11.3% change since 2011)
haveseen // Shutterstock
Wyoming
– Patients seeking treatment: 2,499 (-26.4% change since 2011)
— Patients seeking treatment per 100k residents: 433.2 (31.9% greater than national average)
– Patients under 18 seeking treatment: 147 (-25.4% change since 2011)
– Total facilities: 60 (0.0% change since 2011)
This story originally appeared on Zinnia Health
and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
