In 2024, an estimated 15.4% of U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17 — about 3.8 million teens — had at least one major depressive episode in the past year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (SAMHSA, 2024). That is roughly one in seven American teenagers experiencing a stretch of at least two weeks marked by depressed mood or loss of interest, along with other symptoms that reach the clinical threshold for a depressive episode.
That figure is high, but it is also lower than it was a few years ago. In 2021, the adolescent rate stood at 20.8%, or about 5.2 million teens — meaning teen depression has fallen meaningfully over the most recent measurement period. Understanding both the current number and its direction of travel is essential to reading these statistics honestly.
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This article breaks down teen depression by year, severity, sex, age, and race, then looks at how many affected teens actually receive treatment. It closes with a complementary measure — the CDC’s “persistent sadness” indicator — that captures a broader emotional picture than the clinical episode count alone.
The 2021 to 2024 Decline
The clearest single answer to “how common is teen depression?” comes from the annual NSDUH, which measures past-year major depressive episodes (MDE) among adolescents ages 12 to 17.
In 2024, 15.4% of adolescents — an estimated 3.8 million — had a past-year MDE (SAMHSA, 2024). That is down from 20.8%, or about 5.2 million teens, in 2021. Episodes involving severe impairment — those that substantially interfere with a teen’s ability to function at school, at home, or with friends — followed the same downward path, falling from 15.2% (3.8 million) in 2021 to 11.3% (2.8 million) in 2024.
| Measure (adolescents 12–17) | 2021 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Past-year major depressive episode | 20.8% (5.2M) | 15.4% (3.8M) |
| MDE with severe impairment | 15.2% (3.8M) | 11.3% (2.8M) |
One caveat is worth keeping in mind. SAMHSA notes that changes in survey methodology can affect how comparable estimates are from one year to the next. The 2021 and 2024 estimates, however, were designed to be compared with each other, so the decline between those two years is a real signal rather than a survey artifact. Even at the lower 2024 level, roughly one in seven teens experiencing a depressive episode in a single year keeps adolescent depression among the most common health conditions of the teen years.
Teen Depression by Sex
Depression is not evenly distributed across the adolescent population. The single largest divide is by sex, and it is dramatic.
As of 2021, 29.2% of adolescent girls had a past-year major depressive episode, compared with 11.5% of adolescent boys (NIMH, 2023). That is a gap of roughly 2.5 to 1 — adolescent girls report depression at about two and a half times the rate of boys.
| Adolescent group (2021) | Past-year MDE prevalence |
|---|---|
| Female | 29.2% |
| Male | 11.5% |
This sex gap emerges in adolescence and persists into adulthood, though it narrows somewhat with age. It is one of the most consistent findings in mental health epidemiology, visible in survey after survey. Our teen girls and depression resources track the female-specific data in more depth, and the broader pattern is covered in our overview of how many people have depression.
Teen Depression by Age
Depression also climbs steadily across the teen years. The youngest adolescents are far less likely to experience a major depressive episode than those approaching adulthood.
As of 2021, past-year MDE prevalence roughly doubled between early and late adolescence (NIMH, 2023):
| Age group | Past-year MDE prevalence (2021) |
|---|---|
| 12–13 | 13.0% |
| 14–15 | 20.7% |
| 16–17 | 26.8% |
By ages 16 to 17, more than one in four adolescents had experienced a past-year depressive episode — nearly matching the rate seen among young adults. The steepness of this climb is one reason the middle and high school years draw so much attention from clinicians, schools, and families. Our teens population page gathers the full set of adolescent mental health indicators in one place.
Teen Depression by Race and Ethnicity
Prevalence varies by race and ethnicity as well, though the differences are smaller than the sex and age gaps. As of 2021, adolescents identifying with two or more races reported the highest rate of past-year major depressive episodes (NIMH, 2023):
| Race/ethnicity (2021) | Past-year MDE prevalence |
|---|---|
| Two or more races | 27.2% |
| Hispanic | 22.2% |
| White | 20.7% |
| Black | 14.0% |
| Asian | 13.8% |
These figures reflect self-reported or diagnosed episodes and can be shaped by differences in access to care, stigma, and how symptoms are recognized across communities — factors that complicate any simple ranking. They are best read as a snapshot of measured prevalence in 2021 rather than a fixed hierarchy of risk.
How Many Teens With Depression Get Treatment?
Prevalence tells only half the story; treatment tells the other. Among the 3.8 million adolescents with a past-year major depressive episode in 2024, 60.6% — about 2.3 million — received treatment for their depression (SAMHSA, 2024). That leaves roughly 40%, or about 1.5 million teens, receiving no treatment at all for a depressive episode in a given year.
Looking beyond depression specifically, 28.5% of all adolescents ages 12 to 17 — some 7.4 million teens — received some form of mental health treatment in 2024 (SAMHSA, 2024). Even so, the roughly four-in-ten treatment gap among teens with diagnosable depression is a persistent concern, because untreated adolescent depression is closely tied to school difficulties, substance use, and elevated suicide risk. For the age-by-age picture of that risk, see our analysis of suicide statistics by age.
A Broader Measure: Persistent Sadness
The NSDUH figures above count clinical depressive episodes. A second national dataset — the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) of high school students — captures a wider band of emotional distress through its “persistent sadness” measure, which asks whether students felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities.
By that broader measure, 40% of U.S. high school students felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2023 (CDC, 2024) — a considerably larger share than the clinical MDE rate, because feeling sad or hopeless is not the same as meeting the diagnostic criteria for a depressive episode. The same sex gap appears here: 53% of female high school students reported persistent sadness, compared with 28% of male students (CDC, 2024).
| Persistent sadness (2023) | Share of high school students |
|---|---|
| All students | 40% |
| Female | 53% |
| Male | 28% |
Read together, the two datasets tell a consistent story. Clinical depressive episodes affect roughly one in seven teens, while a much larger share — about four in ten high schoolers — report the sadness and hopelessness that can precede or accompany depression. For the full picture of adolescent mental health across conditions, see our youth mental health statistics overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
How common is teen depression?
As of 2024, 15.4% of U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17 — about 3.8 million teens — had a major depressive episode in the past year (SAMHSA, 2024). That is roughly one in seven teenagers.
Is teen depression rising or falling?
It has declined recently. The adolescent rate fell from 20.8% (5.2 million) in 2021 to 15.4% (3.8 million) in 2024 (SAMHSA, 2024). SAMHSA cautions that survey-method changes limit comparability across some years, but the 2021 and 2024 estimates were designed to be compared with each other.
Is depression more common in teen girls or boys?
Girls, by a wide margin. As of 2021, 29.2% of adolescent girls had a past-year major depressive episode compared with 11.5% of boys — about a 2.5-to-1 ratio (NIMH, 2023). The CDC’s persistent-sadness measure shows the same pattern: 53% of girls versus 28% of boys in 2023.
At what age does teen depression peak?
Prevalence rises through the teen years, from 13.0% at ages 12 to 13 to 26.8% at ages 16 to 17 (NIMH, 2023). By late adolescence, more than one in four teens has experienced a past-year depressive episode.
How many teens with depression get treatment?
Among adolescents with a past-year major depressive episode, 60.6% received treatment in 2024 — about 2.3 million of the 3.8 million affected (SAMHSA, 2024). That leaves roughly 40%, or about 1.5 million teens, receiving no treatment in a given year.
What is the difference between the SAMHSA and CDC teen depression numbers?
SAMHSA’s 15.4% measures clinical major depressive episodes, while the CDC’s 40% measures a broader feeling of persistent sadness or hopelessness among high school students (CDC, 2024). The CDC figure is higher because feeling sad or hopeless is more common than meeting the diagnostic criteria for a depressive episode.
Sources
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Highlights. SAMHSA; 2025. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH%202024%20Annual%20Release/2024-nsduh-nnr-highlights.pdf
- National Institute of Mental Health. Major Depression. NIMH; 2023. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results. CDC; 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/results/2023-yrbs-results.html
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2013–2023. CDC; 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/dstr/index.html