How Common Is Diagnosed Eczema in the US? Reading 5.57 Million Claims Carefully

Dr. Arsy Editorial Team · November 9, 2026

A large administrative-claims study identified 5,573,454 people with an atopic dermatitis diagnosis code between 2019 and 2023. It estimated national, state and county patterns, offering unusual geographic detail while carrying the limitations of claims data.^[3]

National and age-group estimates

The study estimated diagnosed prevalence at 2.4% overall. Age-standardized prevalence was 2.2% in males and 2.6% in females. Diagnosed prevalence was highest in children at 7.2%, followed by adolescents at 3.6% and adults at 1.4%. State estimates ranged from 1.3% to 4.5%.^[3]

Diagnosed prevalence is not true biological prevalence

A claim appears only when someone accesses care, receives a diagnosis code and enters the represented insurance data. People without care, with a miscoded rash, or covered outside the database may be missed. County location was inferred from the clinician’s ZIP code, which may not match a patient’s residence. Extreme county estimates can also be unstable when denominators are small.

Treatment claims need context

Topical and oral corticosteroids were more commonly filled than biologics or oral JAK inhibitors. A fill does not prove the medicine was used, prescribed specifically for eczema, or clinically appropriate. Low use of targeted therapy can reflect disease severity, access, insurance, contraindications and time period.

How prevalence data can help

• Plan pediatric and dermatology services
• Identify geographic access questions
• Generate hypotheses about diagnostic variation
• Track broad changes using consistent methods

The study maps recorded healthcare activity. It should not be used to self-diagnose a rash or assume a county difference has one environmental cause.^[22][23]

Where moisturizer fits

Dr. Arsy Moisturizer #003 provides cosmetic hydration for dry, sensitive and eczema-prone skin. It was not tested in this study and should not be credited with the outcomes of systemic treatments, registries or health-service models.

Related evidence

• What Adults Want From Eczema Treatment: Results From 697 Registry Participants
• Minimal Disease Activity in Eczema: What the UP-TAINED Study Says About Quality of Life
• Eczema Targeted Therapy and Hospital Visits: What a 157,966-Adult Claims Study Found
• Oral Systemic Eczema Treatment in Practice: What AD-REAL Observed at 24 Weeks
• Related eczema research
• Related eczema research

Research and clinical references

1. Patient treatment needs in atopic dermatitis: TREATgermany cohort.
2. UP-TAINED minimal disease activity and quality of life.
3. US atopic dermatitis prevalence estimates, 2019–2023.
4. Targeted therapies, hospitalizations and emergency visits cohort.
5. AD-REAL oral systemic treatment cohort.
6. 48-week minimal disease activity real-world study.
7. International TREAT Registry Taskforce core dataset.
8. Treatment patterns and burden in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.
9. Real-world effectiveness of dupilumab: systematic review.
10. Real-world upadacitinib effectiveness and safety.
11. Baricitinib real-world atopic dermatitis study.
12. Comparative effectiveness of systemic treatments network meta-analysis.
13. Model-based meta-analysis of randomized eczema treatments.
14. AAD adult systemic and phototherapy guideline.
15. AAD adult topical therapy guideline.
16. AAD pediatric management guideline.
17. AAAAI/ACAAI atopic dermatitis guideline.
18. Treat-to-target framework for atopic dermatitis.
19. HOME core outcome set for atopic eczema.
20. POEM validation and interpretability.
21. RECAP long-term control instrument validation.
22. Atopic dermatitis burden systematic review.
23. Economic burden of atopic dermatitis in the United States.
24. Quality of life measurement in atopic dermatitis.

Educational information only; not medical or financial advice. Cited researchers and organizations do not endorse Dr. Arsy products.