Reference page · Updated October 13, 2026
Mental health statistics: Pennsylvania and the United States.
A concise, sourced reference for reporters, community partners, educators, and families. It brings together the most recent official data available at the time of this update.
What these figures show
Need for mental health support is visible in both Pennsylvania adult data and national high school data. These figures are survey and surveillance estimates, not diagnosis rates, and they should be read in the context of each source’s methods.
Renewed Hope Family Services provides outpatient care for children, adults, families, and couples in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. For people considering care, these figures offer context, not a replacement for an individual conversation with a qualified professional.
The numbers
Six citable mental health statistics
24.0%
of Pennsylvania adults had any mental illness in the past year.
44.6%
of Pennsylvania adults reported mental health was not good for at least one day in the past month.
16.0%
of Pennsylvania adults reported 14 or more mentally unhealthy days in the past month.
39.7%
of U.S. high school students experienced persistent sadness or hopelessness.
28.5%
of U.S. high school students reported poor mental health most or all of the time in the prior 30 days.
20.4%
of U.S. high school students seriously considered attempting suicide in the prior year.
Reading the data with care
Context matters as much as the number.
The Pennsylvania figures use different questions and time periods. “Any mental illness” is a survey estimate for the past year, while the state health figures ask about days when mental health was not good in the past month. They are related measures, but they are not interchangeable.
The youth figures come from a national school-based survey of high school students. The CDC reports that supportive relationships and school connectedness were associated with lower prevalence of several mental health and suicide risk indicators. Those findings show associations, not proof that one factor causes another.
Methodology and sources
How this page is maintained
This page uses primary public-health sources and lists the collection period beside every statistic. It will be reviewed about monthly, or sooner when a key source publishes an update. Links below go directly to the source material.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Behavioral Health Barometer: Pennsylvania, Volume 8. Published 2025, using 2021–2023 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.
- Pennsylvania Department of Health, 2024 Behavioral Health Risks of Pennsylvania Adults. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System estimates.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Published in 2024.
Cite this page
Renewed Hope Family Services. “Mental health statistics: Pennsylvania and the United States.” Updated October 13, 2026. https://renewedhopefamilyservices.com/mental-health-statistics