U.S. women report frequent fatigue at 20% rate

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reported Sept. 3 that 16.6% of United States adults had frequent fatigue in 2024 National Health Interview Survey data.

Evidence grade: Moderate (consistent observational data or small trials). The survey matters because women reported frequent fatigue at 20%, above the 16.6% adult average, but the report can show associations, not what produced them.

The CDC report found that 71.5% of adults reported fatigue on at least some days, while 10.7% reported fatigue on most days. Frequent fatigue meant fatigue on most days or every day.

Women reported frequent fatigue more often than men, according to the CDC analysis cited by Healthline. Adults ages 18 to 34 also reported a higher rate, at 19.5%.

“The findings are concerning, but not surprising. Many Americans are trying to balance work, family responsibilities, financial pressures, and ongoing uncertainty about the future,” Matt Glowiak, chief addiction specialist with Recovered, told Healthline. Healthline said Glowiak was not involved in the study.

The report also showed differences by race and ethnicity. Frequent fatigue was reported by 25.5% of American Indian and Alaska Native adults, 18% of white adults, 17.3% of Black adults and 12.9% of Hispanic adults.

Geography also varied. The rate was 17.7% in the South and 17.5% in the Midwest, and it was higher in rural areas than urban areas, at 20.5% versus 14.5%.

Adults with frequent fatigue reported more symptoms and more limits on daily life. Among them, 69.6% reported anxiety symptoms, 46.1% reported cognitive difficulty and 45% reported depression symptoms.

Compared with adults without frequent fatigue, those with frequent fatigue were more than three times as likely to report depression symptoms and twice as likely to report cognitive difficulties and anxiety symptoms, according to the Healthline summary of the CDC report.

Work limitations were reported by 36% of adults with frequent fatigue. For social activities, 16.2% reported some difficulty, while 12.8% reported a lot of difficulty or said they could not take part at all.

The study applies to adults ages 18 and older in the United States who were represented in the 2024 National Health Interview Survey.

The study cannot show whether fatigue came before anxiety, depression, cognitive difficulty or activity limits. It also did not examine the underlying reasons people reported frequent fatigue.

Healthline quoted clinicians saying fatigue can have many physical and mental contributors. David Cutler, a family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center who was not involved in the study, said, “The possible causes of fatigue, both physical and mental, are vast. Even a single person may experience multiple triggers for their fatigue.”

Source: Healthline News article, September 17, 2026; CDC National Center for Health Statistics report, September 3, 2026.

Atlas360 reports health research and does not provide medical advice.