The past few years have been hard on Americans' ability to control their weight.
About 34.2% of the working-age Americans in a typical state were classified as obese in 2023.
The median was up from 30.8% in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic appeared, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey program.
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The percentage ranged from less than 25%, in Colorado and the District of Columbia, up to more than 40%, in six states.
For a look at the five states with the highest obesity rates for working-age adults, see the gallery above.
For data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, see the table below.
Methods: The CDC breaks obesity rate data down for people under 18, people ages 65 and older, and four age groups from 18 through 64.
We came up with an obesity prevalence rate for the working-age population by averaging the data for the age groups in that age range.
One benefit of using that approach is that it filters out the effects of the aging of the population, or other population trends, in a given state.
At press time, the CDC had not included data from Kentucky and Pennsylvania in the 2023 BRFSS results.
The impact: About 74% of adult Americans are overweight or obese, and obesity leads to about $480 billion in extra medical care costs, according to the Midwest Business Group on Health.
Obesity and related conditions also lead to about $1.2 trillion in productivity losses due to extra absenteeism, presenteeism, disability and workers' compensation costs.
Obesity and the high cost of drugs like Wegovy are such hot issues that they could affect the outcome of the upcoming elections: A Senate committee recently held a closely watched hearing focusing on how much Novo Nordisk charges for Wegovy.
| Obesity Rate for Adults Ages 18-64 | |||
| 2018 | 2023 | Change, in percentage points | |
| Alabama | 36.58% | 40.46% | +3.88 |
| Alaska | 29.58% | 35.34% | +5.76 |
| Arizona | 29.98% | 33.10% | +3.12 |
| Arkansas | 38.60% | 41.54% | +2.94 |
| California | 25.70% | 28.18% | +2.48 |
| Colorado | 22.74% | 24.64% | +1.90 |
| Connecticut | 26.90% | 29.22% | +2.32 |
| Delaware | 32.90% | 36.02% | +3.12 |
| District of Columbia | 25.36% | 24.20% | -1.16 |
| Florida | 30.68% | 30.00% | -0.68 |
| Georgia | 32.50% | 35.44% | +2.94 |
| Hawaii | 26.88% | 27.86% | +0.98 |
| Idaho | 27.54% | 30.94% | +3.40 |
| Illinois | 30.76% | 35.16% | +4.40 |
| Indiana | 34.12% | 38.26% | +4.14 |
| Iowa | 35.34% | 38.62% | +3.28 |
| Kansas | 34.94% | 36.38% | +1.44 |
| Kentucky | 37.28% | NA | - |
| Louisiana | 37.68% | 40.48% | +2.80 |
| Maine | 30.68% | 33.30% | +2.62 |
| Maryland | 30.94% | 33.94% | +3.00 |
| Massachusetts | 25.06% | 27.26% | +2.20 |
| Michigan | 32.52% | 35.68% | +3.16 |
| Minnesota | 29.48% | 32.88% | +3.40 |
| Mississippi | 40.78% | 42.06% | +1.28 |
| Missouri | 35.42% | 35.52% | +0.10 |
| Montana | 27.00% | 30.30% | +3.30 |
| Nebraska | 34.16% | 36.50% | +2.34 |
| Nevada | 28.58% | 31.36% | +2.78 |
| New Hampshire | 29.40% | 33.42% | +4.02 |
| New Jersey | 24.66% | 28.26% | +3.60 |
| New Mexico | 34.24% | 37.78% | +3.54 |
| New York | 27.36% | 28.00% | +0.64 |
| North Carolina | 33.50% | 33.58% | +0.08 |
| North Dakota | 35.28% | 35.78% | +0.50 |
| Ohio | 33.58% | 36.76% | +3.18 |
| Oklahoma | 35.76% | 40.20% | +4.44 |
| Oregon | 29.68% | 33.16% | +3.48 |
| Pennsylvania | 30.98% | NA | - |
| Puerto Rico | 34.16% | 37.48% | +3.32 |
| Rhode Island | 27.42% | 32.58% | +5.16 |
| South Carolina | 34.46% | 37.04% | +2.58 |
| South Dakota | 29.00% | 36.74% | +7.74 |
| Tennessee | 34.78% | 38.46% | +3.68 |
| Texas | 34.10% | 34.46% | +0.36 |
| Utah | 27.76% | 31.04% | +3.28 |
| Vermont | 27.78% | 29.92% | +2.14 |
| Virginia | 29.92% | 33.84% | +3.92 |
| Washington | 28.38% | 30.66% | +2.28 |
| West Virginia | 40.10% | 42.94% | +2.84 |
| Wisconsin | 32.62% | 35.60% | +2.98 |
| Wyoming | 29.10% | 34.16% | +5.06 |
| MEDIAN | 30.85% | 34.31% | +3.46 |
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
