16% Of Americans With A Substance Use Disorder Get Treatment

About 16.0%, or 7.6 million, of the estimated 47.2 million Americans age 12 and older who needed substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in 2025 received treatment during the year. The remaining 84.0%, or 39.6 million people, did not receive SUD treatment.

Treatment rates increased with SUD severity but remained low even among people with severe SUD. About 4.1% of people with mild SUD received treatment during the year, representing 980,000 people. Treatment reached 9.7%, or 1.0 million, of those with moderate SUD and 28.9%, or 2.9 million, of those with severe SUD.

Among adults age 18 and older who had SUD but did not receive treatment, most did not perceive a need for treatment. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported that 94.5% did not perceive that they needed treatment. Among adults who perceived an unmet need for treatment, about 187,000 sought treatment, while 1.9 million did not seek treatment despite recognizing a need.

For those who perceived an unmet need but did not receive treatment, the most commonly reported barrier was believing they should be able to handle their alcohol or drug use on their own, cited by 82.5%. About 68.4% said they were not ready to stop or cut back on alcohol or drug use; 67.7% were not ready to start treatment; 54.3% said they did not have enough time for treatment; and 41.4% were concerned about what people would think or say if they received treatment.

Treatment rates also varied by type of SUD. Among the 4.0 million people age 12 and older with opioid use disorder (OUD), 15.7%, or 623,000 people, received medications for OUD during the year. Among the 25.7 million people with alcohol use disorder (AUD), 2.6%, or 679,000 people, received medications for AUD. The medication treatment rate for OUD was about six times the rate for AUD.

Of the 7.6 million people who received SUD treatment, 4.4 million received outpatient treatment, 3.6 million received treatment via telehealth, and 2.2 million received inpatient treatment. About 2.1 million received medication for OUD, 1.1 million received medication for AUD, and 649,000 received treatment in a correctional setting. These treatment categories were not mutually exclusive, and individuals could report receiving more than one type of treatment or receiving treatment in more than one setting.

SAMHSA defined receipt of substance use treatment as receiving treatment during the past year for alcohol or drug use in an inpatient setting, outpatient setting, via telehealth, or in a correctional setting, including a prison, jail, or juvenile detention center. The definition also included receipt of prescription medication to reduce or stop alcohol use or the use of heroin or prescription pain relievers.

About 4.9 million of the 7.6 million people who received SUD treatment had an active SUD during the past year. The remaining 2.7 million had received SUD treatment during the previous year and continued treatment in 2025.

The findings were reported by SAMHSA in the 2025 National Survey On Drug Use And Health. The nationally representative survey included more than 60,000 civilian, noninstitutionalized people age 12 and older and examined past-year substance use, mental illness, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, SUD, and treatment.

The report presents SUD treatment data for 2025 only because SAMHSA changed questions about receipt of inpatient and outpatient substance use treatment during the 2024 survey. As a result, four years of comparable data are not available to assess trends in SUD treatment.

For more information, contact: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857; Fax: 240-276-2135; Email: media@samhsa.hhs.gov; Website: https://www.samhsa.gov/