State-Level Economic Costs of Opioid Use Disorder and Fatal Opioid Overdose — United States, 2017

Abstract

Approximately 47,000 persons in the United States died from an opioid-involved overdose in 2018 (1), and 2.0 million persons met the diagnostic criteria for an opioid use disorder in 2017 (2). The economic cost of the U.S. opioid epidemic in 2017 was estimated at $1,021 billion, including cost of opioid use disorder estimated at $471 billion and cost of fatal opioid overdose estimated at $550 billion (3). CDC used national-level cost estimates to estimate the state-level economic cost of opioid use disorder and fatal opioid overdose during 2017. Cases and costs of state-level opioid use disorder and fatal opioid overdose and per capita costs were calculated for each of the 38 states and the District of Columbia (DC) that met drug specificity requirements for mortality data (4). Combined costs of opioid use disorder and fatal opioid overdose (combined costs) varied substantially, ranging from $985 million in Wyoming to $72,583 million in Ohio. Per capita combined costs also varied considerably, ranging from $1,204 in Hawaii to $7,247 in West Virginia. States with high per capita combined costs were mainly in two regions: the Ohio Valley and New England. Federal and state public health agencies can use these data to help guide decisions regarding research, prevention and response activities, and resource allocation.