Hospital industry statistics show a large, diverse U.S. system: 6,100 hospitals operated in fiscal year 2024, with 907,216 staffed beds and 35.7 million admissions. Hospital care also represented 31% of national health expenditures in 2024, while employment, compensation, and supply costs continued to shape the sector.
Contents
- Hospital system size and composition
- Beds, admissions, and geography
- Hospital spending and national health care
- Employment and labor-market measures
- Wages, occupations, and workplace safety
- Establishments, compensation, and benefits
- Hospital costs and financial pressure
Hospital system size and composition
The American Hospital Association (AHA) reported 6,100 U.S. hospitals in fiscal year 2024. Of these, 5,121 were community hospitals. Community hospitals are the largest part of the hospital landscape, but the total also includes psychiatric, federal, and other facilities.
The AHA counted 2,984 nongovernment not-for-profit community hospitals, 1,224 investor-owned for-profit community hospitals, and 913 state and local government community hospitals. It separately counted 210 federal government hospitals, 656 nonfederal psychiatric hospitals, and 113 other hospitals, including long-term care hospitals and hospital units within institutions. These classifications describe different portions of the total and should not be added together as though every category used the same definition.
The AHA’s hospital infographics reported that community hospitals represented 84% of all U.S. hospitals. Nonfederal psychiatric hospitals represented 11%, federal government hospitals 3%, and other hospitals 2%. The percentages are rounded presentation figures, while the counts above are the reported hospital counts.
The AHA said its data were provided by more than 6,200 hospitals and 400 health care systems, and that its annual survey features more than 1,300 hospital data points directly from the source. Those survey measures provide context for the industry’s size, ownership structure, capacity, and activity.
Beds, admissions, and geography
U.S. hospitals had 907,216 total staffed beds in fiscal year 2024, according to the AHA. Community hospitals accounted for 775,297 staffed beds. The same AHA figures recorded 35,658,583 admissions across all U.S. hospitals, including 33,553,725 admissions at community hospitals.
Community hospitals were also divided by location and system affiliation. The AHA counted 1,797 rural community hospitals and 3,324 urban community hospitals. It counted 3,567 community hospitals as being in a system. These measures describe organizational and geographic characteristics, not a ranking of quality or access.
| AHA measure | Reported figure | Period or classification |
|---|---|---|
| All U.S. hospitals | 6,100 | FY 2024 |
| Community hospitals | 5,121 | FY 2024 |
| Staffed beds, all hospitals | 907,216 | FY 2024 |
| Staffed beds, community hospitals | 775,297 | FY 2024 |
| Admissions, all hospitals | 35,658,583 | FY 2024 |
| Admissions, community hospitals | 33,553,725 | FY 2024 |
| Rural community hospitals | 1,797 | FY 2024 |
| Urban community hospitals | 3,324 | FY 2024 |
The bed and admission figures are activity and capacity measures for the reported period. They should not be interpreted as current-day totals for 2026, because the AHA figures are identified as fiscal year 2024 data.
Hospital spending and national health care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported hospital expenditures of $1,634.7 billion in 2024. Hospital care accounted for 31% of national health expenditures. Total national health expenditures reached $5.3 trillion, equal to $15,474 per person and 18.0% of gross domestic product.
CMS also reported major payer and household spending totals for 2024. Medicare spending reached $1,118.0 billion, or 21% of total national health expenditures. Medicaid spending reached $931.7 billion, or 18%. Private health insurance spending reached $1,644.6 billion, or 31%, while out-of-pocket spending reached $556.6 billion, or 11%.
Other third-party payer and public health activity spending declined 7.0% in 2024 to $590.5 billion. This category is broader than hospital spending, so it should be read as a national health expenditure measure rather than as a hospital revenue figure.
CMS reported that hospital expenditures grew 8.9% in 2024. The growth rate and the $1,634.7 billion total refer to hospital expenditures, while the $5.3 trillion total refers to national health expenditures across the health system.
Employment and labor-market measures
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), using the hospitals industry classification NAICS 622, reported hospital industry employment of 5,734.1 thousand in January 2026. Employment was 5,742.9 thousand in February, 5,757.8 thousand in March, and 5,762.1 thousand in April.
The BLS hospital industry unemployment rate was 2.4% in February 2026, 1.4% in March, and 1.7% in April. These are monthly observations and should not be treated as an annual unemployment rate.
Average hourly earnings for hospital employees were $44.46 in December 2025, $44.99 in January 2026, $44.54 in February, and $44.49 in March. Average weekly hours were 36.2 in December 2025, 36.1 in January 2026, and 35.9 in March 2026. The supplied BLS measures use different months for earnings and hours, so they are best read as separate monthly observations.
Wages, occupations, and workplace safety
Occupation-specific BLS measures for hospitals show different pay levels across roles. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses in hospitals had a median annual wage of $59,200 in 2024. Medical and clinical laboratory technologists had a mean annual wage of $69,120, while radiologic technologists and technicians had a mean annual wage of $80,020.
The distinction between median and mean matters: the nurse figure is the midpoint of the reported wage distribution, while the two laboratory and radiology figures are averages. The measures also cover different occupations, so they should not be used to infer a single typical hospital wage.
BLS workplace data recorded 22 hospital workplace fatalities in 2021 and 26 in 2022. For 2024, hospitals had 5.1 total recordable injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers. Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer were 2.1 per 100 full-time workers; cases involving days away from work were 1.3, and cases involving job transfer or restriction were 0.8.
The hospital producer price index was 249.708 in March 2026, and it rose 0.2% from the prior month. This index is a price measure for the industry and is not the same as hospital expenditures, employee earnings, or consumer medical bills.
Establishments, compensation, and benefits
In the third quarter of 2025, BLS counted 17,236 private-industry hospital establishments, 1,462 local-government hospital establishments, 1,171 state-government establishments, and 461 federal-government establishments. Establishment counts are different from the AHA’s hospital counts because the sources use their own definitions, coverage, and reporting systems.
For the first quarter of 2026, private-industry hospital total compensation increased 2.9% over 12 months, while private-industry wages and salaries increased 3.1%. State and local government hospital total compensation and wages and salaries each increased 3.8% over 12 months.
The BLS measured private-industry hospital total compensation at $65.65 per hour worked in the fourth quarter of 2025. Wages and salaries accounted for $43.18 per hour, and total benefits accounted for $22.47. Within benefits, insurance costs were $5.65 per hour, retirement costs were $2.93, and paid leave costs were $6.38.
State and local government hospital total compensation was $61.95 per hour worked in the same quarter. Wages and salaries were $38.99, and total benefits were $22.97. Insurance costs were $6.93 per hour, retirement costs were $5.04, and paid leave costs were $5.86.
| Compensation measure, Q4 2025 | Private industry | State and local government |
|---|---|---|
| Total compensation per hour | $65.65 | $61.95 |
| Wages and salaries per hour | $43.18 | $38.99 |
| Total benefits per hour | $22.47 | $22.97 |
| Insurance per hour | $5.65 | $6.93 |
| Retirement per hour | $2.93 | $5.04 |
| Paid leave per hour | $6.38 | $5.86 |
In 2025, 92% of state and local government hospital workers had access to retirement benefit plans, and 73% participated. Access to defined benefit plans was 65%, with 47% participating; access to defined contribution plans was 66%, with 38% participating.
The same BLS measures reported 14 mean vacation days after one year of service and 23 mean vacation days after 20 years. Employer-sponsored health care was available to 92% of these workers. Paid vacation was available to 93%, and paid sick leave to 94%.
Hospital costs and financial pressure
The AHA’s Costs of Caring measures reported that total hospital expenses grew 7.5% in 2025. Hospital price growth was 3.3%, workforce cost growth was 5.6%, supply cost growth was 9.9%, and drug cost growth was 13.6%.
The AHA reported that 56.1% of hospital costs were tied to service lines where reimbursement fell short of cost. It also reported that about 36% of hospital expense growth from 2019 to 2024 reflected caring for more patients, while about 19% reflected caring for sicker patients. These percentages describe components of expense growth and are not a complete allocation of every cost change.
The AHA associated denials with a 7% net reduction in provider Medicare Advantage revenue and reported that bad debt was up 10% in 2025. Hospital labor costs increased by more than $42.5 billion between 2021 and 2023, reaching $839 billion. Contract labor spending was approximately $51.1 billion in 2023.
Earlier AHA Costs of Caring figures reported that hospital employee compensation grew 45.0% from 2014 to 2023, while inflation grew 28.7% over the same period. The AHA also reported that the average age of capital investments for medical equipment and infrastructure increased 7.1% in 2023. These are historical measures from the periods stated and are not presented as independently verified current estimates.