How many people are on Medicaid in the ?

Updated May. 20, 2026Refreshed monthly
On average, 88.2 million people or 26% of the US population were on Medicaid during FY 2024. Enrolling about 1 in 4 people in the US, Medicaid is one of the largest single health insurers in the country. Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides free or low-cost coverage to eligible low-income individuals and families, including children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities.

88.2M

enrolled in Medicaid (FY 2024, monthly average)

26%

of the US population enrolled in Medicaid (FY 2024)
Since Medicaid was created in the 1960s, the share of the population covered by it has generally increased. In FY 2024, 26% of people were covered by Medicaid. That is more than double the share in FY 2001.

In FY 2024, 26% of people were covered by Medicaid.

Average monthly Medicaid enrollment as a share of the population, FY 1974 – 2024

How has Medicaid enrollment changed over time?

Medicaid enrollment numbers are affected by changes in both economic conditions and policy:
  • During the late 1980s and early 1990s, a series of bills extended coverage to low-income pregnant women and children.
  • The Affordable Care Act (ACA) gave states the option to extend eligibility to a larger subset of adults — primarily those without dependent children. Since that provision went into effect in 2014, 40 states and Washington, DC, have chosen to do so. The "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed in 2025 added a work requirement for this group of adults to maintain eligibility.
  • During the pandemic, the federal government gave states additional Medicaid funding on the condition that they not remove anyone from the program by rechecking eligibility. This was in effect between 2020 and 2023.
    • Medicaid spending
    Federal and state governments spent $894B on Medicaid in FY 2023.
    Read more
    In FY 2024, 88.2 million people were covered by Medicaid, down 10.2% from its FY 2023 peak. FY 2024 enrollment is also 19.4% higher than the pre-pandemic peak in 2019.

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    Medicaid enrollment peaked in FY 2023.

    Average monthly Medicaid enrollment, FY 1974 – 2024

    How does Medicaid categorize enrollees?

    Medicaid eligibility is determined by a combination of federal guidelines and state-level rules, primarily based on income, household size, disability status, age, and factors like whether a person is pregnant or has caretaking responsibilities.
    Enrollees are sorted into five categories:
  • Children (under age 18)
  • Seniors (age 65 or over)
  • People with disabilities (both adults and children)
  • Pregnant women and parents or caretakers
  • Other adults, primarily those without dependent children (limited to states that chose to expand Medicaid after the ACA)
    • In FY 2023, the latest data available, children were the largest category of enrollees: 35.8 million kids, about 36.5% of total Medicaid recipients.

    In FY 2023, children and adults without dependent children accounted for more than half of all Medicaid enrollees.

    Average monthly Medicaid enrollment, by eligibility group

    Which state has the largest share of people on Medicaid? Which has the lowest?

    States have different enrollment shares because eligibility rules, Medicaid expansion decisions, demographics, and economic conditions vary by state.
    In FY 2024, Louisiana had the highest rate of Medicaid enrollment, with 43.4% of its population in the program. Utah had the lowest rate, at 10.3%.

    Among states, the Medicaid enrollment rate ranged from 10.3% in Utah to 43.4% in Louisiana.

    Average monthly Medicaid enrollment as a share of the population, by state (FY 2024)

    Average monthly Medicaid enrollment as a share of the population, by state (FY 2024)

    Average monthly Medicaid enrollment as a share of the population, by state (FY 2024)
    StateShare of population
    1.

    Louisiana 

    		43.4%
    2.

    New Mexico

    		41.8%
    3.

    Washington, DC

    		39.5%
    4.

    California 

    		37.6%
    5.

    New York

    		36.2%
    6.

    Alaska 

    		33.2%
    7.

    Hawaii 

    		32.2%
    8.

    Kentucky 

    		31.5%
    9.

    Oregon 

    		30.4%
    10.

    West Virginia

    		30.3%

    Steve Ballmer explains Medicaid in under eight minutes

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    Methodology

    USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

    The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.

    Page sources

    USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.