On Jun. 24, 2026, A University of Southern California (USC)-led study finds Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias will cost the United States an estimated $818 billion this year, driven largely by often-overlooked costs to persons living with dementia and family and friends providing their care.

In addition to medical and long-term care costs, the research team’s cost model accounts for factors often not captured in other estimates of dementia’s economic toll, such as diminished quality of life, lost earnings for people with dementia and care partners, and extensive unpaid care provided by family and friends. The 2026 estimate comes from a multi-year federally funded research project quantifying annual U.S. dementia costs, and it reflects advances made since last year’s inaugural report.

The 2026 report from the U.S. Cost of Dementia Project, which is funded by a cooperating agreement with the National Institute on Aging, builds on last year’s findings as the researchers continue to improve their cost estimates.

Key findings from the study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association:

• Dementia population: 5.7 million Americans are living with dementia in 2026, including 5.1 million who are ages 65 and older.
• Quality of life impact: Reduced quality of life among people with dementia—marked by declines in cognition, function and independence—represents the largest cost at $320 billion. Informal care partners experience an additional $15 billion in quality-of-life losses related to emotional and physical strain.
• Unpaid caregiving: About 5.2 million people, often in their prime working years, provide 6.8 billion hours of unpaid care to a family member or friend with dementia, valued at $237 billion.
• Medical care costs: Long-term and medical care costs for people with dementia total $222 billion. Medicare and Medicaid cover about 70% ($154 billion), while patients and families pay 20% ($46 billion) out of pocket.
• Lost wages: People with dementia and their care partners forgo $23 billion in annual earnings.

This year’s peer-reviewed estimates now account for forgone earnings of people living with dementia and include new models of health-related quality-of-life impacts for care partners. Also new this year is a peer-reviewed and published methods paper to make their data, assumptions and modeling accessible and transparent. 

The cost model incorporates large, nationally representative datasets, including the Health and Retirement Study and administrative health data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Researchers use dynamic microsimulation to project how new treatments, care models and policies will affect future dementia costs, including often-hidden impacts on well-being and finances.