Chronic Pain in U.S. Adults by Sex and Urbanization, 2023 (QuickStats)

QuickStats from CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report*, 2025, using the 2023 National Health Interview Survey.*

In 2023, more women than men in the United States had chronic pain in the past 3 months: 25.4% of women aged 18 and over, compared with 23.2% of men.

Percentage of adults aged 18 and over with chronic pain in the past 3 months, by sex and urbanization level, United States, 2023. Bars show 95% confidence intervals. CDC.

Where people live

• Large central metropolitan areas: the only urbanization level with a significant gap between the sexes — 22.2% of women against 18.8% of men.
• Other levels: the differences between women and men were not statistically significant.
• Urban to rural: for both men and women, the less urban the area, the more common recent chronic pain was.

How it was measured

• Chronic pain means answering "most days" or "every day" to the question: "In the past 3 months, how often did you have pain? Would you say never, some days, most days, or every day?"
• Urbanization follows the 2013 National Center for Health Statistics Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for counties.
• The survey is based on household interviews with a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population.

Sources

• Jacqueline Lucas and Inderbir Sohi, "QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years with Chronic Pain in the Past 3 Months, by Sex and Urbanization Level — United States, 2023", MMWR, vol. 74, no. 7, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7407a5.htm — supplementary table: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/176063
• Data: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm
• Rewritten in hubnx's own words.