Just the Facts concludes

USAFacts is soon wrapping up our deep dive into Founder Steve Ballmer’s Just the Facts series. The mission behind these videos — to share information with the voting public — will live on after the election. You can watch the series here.

How many Americans experience mental illness?

Mental illness refers to a range of disorders that affect a person’s thinking, mood, and behavior. In 2023, about 22.8% of the adult population experienced mental illness. That’s roughly two in nine adults. Mental illness rates vary based on factors such as age, race, and socioeconomic status. What are the stats on mental illness across the US?

In 2023, people ages 18 to 25 had the highest rates of mental illness at 33.8%, which was 11.0 percentage points higher than the overall adult average. In 2015, the rate for this age group was 21.7%, or 3.8 percentage points higher than average.

Map showing percentage of adults with a mental illness

Mental illness rates vary by state. In 2022, Utah had the highest rate at 29.19%, while New Jersey had the lowest at 19.38%. States in the western and northern parts of the country tend to have higher rates compared to southeastern states.
Rates also decline as income levels rise. Adults living below the poverty line had the highest rate of mental illness at 29.0%, which is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate.
Among racial groups, multiracial adults had the highest rate of mental illness at 36.7%. The white adult demographic followed (24%), then American Indian/Alaskan Native (23.5%), Hispanic or Latino (20.6%), Black or African American (19.4%), and Asian (18.1%).

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What do modern American households look like?

In 1960, over 44% of American households included married parents with children, while just over 13% were single with no children. Today, single-person households and married couples without children outnumber married-parent households. How else have American households changed, and how have they stayed the same?

In 2023, more than half of American households were childless: 29.4% were married couples without children. The proportion of households made up of married people without children has ranged between 28% and 31% since 1960.
Twenty-nine percent of households were single people without kids, up from 13.1% in 1960.
The number of married households without children has grown alongside the US population. There were 38.7 million married, childless households in 2023, up 143% from 1960. During the same period, the country’s population grew by 88%.
More than a quarter of households had parents and children, including 17.9% married-parent households and 7.4% single-parent households.

See decades of data

Data behind the news

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said McDonald’s Quarter Pounders were linked to an E. coli outbreak in 10 states last week. At least 49 people were sickened, and 10 were hospitalized. Here’s the data on how many people get sick from foodborne illnesses, including E. coli.

Union machinists rejected a contract proposal with Boeing, continuing a strike that started on September 13. Here’s the history of union membership, work stoppages, and more.

Don’t forget! USAFacts Founder Steve Ballmer will talk with X Corp CEO Linda Yaccarino on X this Tuesday, October 29, at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Tune in to hear them discuss #JustTheFacts!

Time to take the weekly fact quiz!

One last fact: Election edition

States receive electoral college votes based on their Congressional representation, which is in turn partially determined by census population estimates. Based on the 2020 census, Texas has gained two votes since the last presidential election — raising its total to 40. California lost one, reaching 54 electoral votes for the first time since 2000.