How Many Americans Take GLP-1 Drugs? The Latest Numbers
KFF found 12% of US adults currently taking a GLP-1 for any reason (survey fielded October 27–November 2, 2025). Gallup found 11% currently taking one for weight loss only (fielded May 28–June 5, 2026); ever-use is 15% per Gallup and 18% per KFF.
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Two recent surveys answer this question with two different numbers, because they measure two different things. KFF found that 12% of US adults are currently taking a GLP-1 for any reason — weight loss, diabetes, or heart disease — from a survey fielded October 27–November 2, 2025 [2]. Gallup found that 11% of US adults currently take a GLP-1 medication for weight loss specifically, from a survey of 5,065 adults fielded May 28–June 5, 2026 [1]. Ever-use is higher on both measures: 18% of adults have taken one at some point per KFF, and 15% per Gallup [1][2].
Neither figure is wrong, and they should not be merged into a single national rate. Gallup’s question asks only about weight-loss use of semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), liraglutide (Saxenda) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) [1]. KFF’s question covers the whole class, including drugs taken for diabetes and to reduce heart attack and stroke risk; its 2024 question wording also named Rybelsus and Trulicity [5]. On top of that, the surveys were fielded about seven months apart, and GLP-1 use has been rising quickly [1][2].
Why do Gallup and KFF report different percentages?
Two differences explain most of the gap: what the question counts, and when it was asked.
| Gallup | KFF | |
|---|---|---|
| Current use | 11% | 12% |
| Ever used | 15% | 18% |
| What it measures | Weight-loss use only | Any reason: weight loss, diabetes, heart attack/stroke risk |
| Field dates | May 28–June 5, 2026 | October 27–November 2, 2025 |
| Published | July 7, 2026; revised September 8, 2026 | November 14, 2025 |
| Sample | 5,065 US adults, Gallup Panel | US adults, KFF Health Tracking Poll |
Gallup’s margin of sampling error is ±1.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, design effect included [1]. KFF framed its result in its news release as “1 in 8 adults” currently taking a GLP-1 — a presentation choice, not a different measurement [2]. The bigger structural difference is scope: Gallup counts only people using these drugs for weight loss, while KFF counts everyone using the class for any reason [1][2]. Since many people take GLP-1s for diabetes or heart disease rather than weight loss, KFF’s all-reason number runs higher.
One more wrinkle: Gallup originally published its 2026 results on July 7, 2026, then revised the estimates on September 8, 2026 after updating its weighting criteria [1]. The figures cited here are the revised ones.
How many people take GLP-1s for weight loss versus diabetes or heart disease?
Both, in large numbers — and the split depends on the year you look at.
KFF’s poll fielded April 23–May 1, 2024 found that 62% of adults who had ever taken a GLP-1 said they took it to treat a chronic condition, including diabetes or heart disease, while about four in ten said they took it primarily to lose weight [5]. That is the clearest sourced breakdown of purpose, and it is why Gallup’s weight-loss-only figure sits below KFF’s all-reason figure [1][2].
KFF’s October–November 2025 poll shows how deeply the class has penetrated specific patient groups: 45% of adults who say they have been diagnosed with diabetes report currently using a GLP-1, as do 29% of those diagnosed with heart disease and 23% of those told they were overweight or obese in the past five years [2].
How fast has GLP-1 use grown?
Fast enough that current use roughly doubled in about 18 months on KFF’s trend line, and more than tripled on Gallup’s.
KFF measured 6% current use in its poll fielded April 23–May 1, 2024 and 12% in its poll fielded October 27–November 2, 2025 — a 6-point rise, meaning current use doubled in about a year and a half [2][5]. Ever-use rose from 12% to 18% over the same span [2][5].
Gallup’s trend line looks different because of its own methodology changes. Its 2025 release reported current weight-loss use of 12.4%, up from 5.8% in February 2024 when Gallup first measured it [4]. Its revised 2026 release reports 11% current use against a restated 2024 baseline of 3% [1]. The 2024 baseline differs between the two releases — 5.8% versus 3% — because of weighting and methodology updates, so the 12.4%-to-11% change between 2025 and 2026 should not be read as a real decline in use [1][4].
Awareness has climbed alongside use. Gallup found 80% of adults aware of weight-loss GLP-1s in 2024, 89% in 2025 and 90% in 2026 [1][4]. KFF found in its April–May 2024 poll that 32% of adults had heard “a lot” about these drugs, up from 19% in July 2023 [5].
What do prescription records show, beyond surveys?
Electronic health records show the same surge in prescribing, measured independently of what people tell pollsters.
Epic Research reports GLP-1 prescriptions rising from 1,884 per 100,000 US adults in the second quarter of 2021 to 8,819 per 100,000 in the first quarter of 2026 — more than a fourfold increase [6]. The data come from Epic Cosmos, a dataset of more than 304 million patient records from 2,000 hospitals and more than 47,000 clinics across all 50 US states, plus Canada, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia [6].
The mix of drugs changed just as dramatically. In 2021, the most prescribed agents were dulaglutide (about 790 per 100,000) and semaglutide (about 680 per 100,000). By the first quarter of 2026, tirzepatide had become the most prescribed GLP-1 at roughly 4,700 prescriptions per 100,000, with semaglutide at around 3,900 per 100,000, and use of the older agents declined [6]. Epic notes the growth was driven by expansion in both diabetic and non-diabetic populations [6].
How many millions of Americans does that add up to?
No survey or prescription tracker in these sources states a headcount, so any millions figure is either a market-research estimate or rough arithmetic.
J.P. Morgan Global Research estimates about 5 million Americans were on GLP-1s in 2023, 6 million in 2024 and around 10 million in 2025, and projects roughly 25 million on GLP-1 treatment by 2030 [3]. The same article’s text also states that upwards of 30 million Americans will be on GLP-1 treatment in 2030, an increase of 10 million over those on branded GLP-1s in 2026 — so the figures vary within the same piece [3]. These are J.P. Morgan’s own estimates and forecasts, not survey counts [3].
For scale only: multiplying KFF’s 12% current-use figure [2] by the US adult population — roughly a quarter-billion people, a base no source here supplies — works out to something on the order of 30 million adults. That is the writer’s rough arithmetic, not a figure from any survey or prescription database.
Globally, J.P. Morgan puts penetration at roughly 7% of diabetes patients and about 2% of the obese population, and forecasts a global incretin market of $200 billion by 2030 [3].
Who is taking GLP-1 drugs — age, gender and race?
Use is heaviest among middle-aged adults and people with diabetes or heart disease, and women report more weight-loss use than men.
KFF’s October–November 2025 poll found current use highest among adults ages 50–64, at 22%, compared with 9% among adults 65 and older [2]. Gallup’s 2025 data, collected across the first three quarters of 2025, shows a similar midlife peak for weight-loss use: 16.2% among adults 40–49 and 17.0% among adults 50–64, with 11.1% among adults 65 and older — a 6.5-point increase since the first quarter of 2024 for the oldest group [4].
By gender, Gallup found 15.2% of women and 9.7% of men taking GLP-1s for weight loss across the first three quarters of 2025, with both groups more than doubling their use in a year [4]. KFF’s poll fielded April 23–May 1, 2024, by contrast, found similar shares of men and women reporting ever-use [5].
By race, KFF’s April–May 2024 poll found Black adults more likely than White adults to report ever taking these drugs — 18% versus 10% — with Hispanic adults at 13% [5].
Among people with diabetes specifically, 45% of diagnosed adults report current GLP-1 use in KFF’s October–November 2025 poll [2]. Gallup’s data from the first three quarters of 2025 found 14.1% of adults diagnosed with diabetes reporting use of these drugs for weight loss specifically [4]. A CDC/NCHS Data Brief published August 2025 (No. 537) examined GLP-1 injectable use among adults with diagnosed diabetes in 2024, finding use similar by sex but varying by age group, race and Hispanic origin, and BMI [8].
Why do so few adults over 65 use GLP-1s?
Money, mostly. KFF attributes the low use among adults 65 and older — 9% currently in its October–November 2025 poll — to Medicare’s lack of coverage for drugs used specifically for weight loss [2]. Its poll fielded April 23–May 1, 2024 found the same pattern in sharper form: 8% of adults 65 and older had taken a GLP-1 for a chronic condition, but just 1% had ever taken one to lose weight [5].
Gallup’s data adds a second layer: adults 65 and older show no reduction in obesity since 2022 despite reporting GLP-1 use, and prior Gallup research found lower reported effectiveness of the injections in that age group compared with younger adults [1][4].
What do GLP-1 users pay, and where do they get the drugs?
Cost is the dominant complaint, and a meaningful share of users are paying entirely out of pocket.
KFF’s October–November 2025 poll found 56% of GLP-1 users saying the drugs were difficult to afford, including one in four who said “very difficult” [2]. About a quarter of users — 27% — report having insurance but paying the whole cost of the medication themselves [2]. Its April–May 2024 poll found nearly identical results: 54% of ever-users said the cost was difficult to afford, including 22% “very difficult,” and 53% of insured users still called it difficult [5].
Where people get the drugs: 76% of adults who have taken a GLP-1 got it from a primary care provider or specialist, 17% from an online provider or website, and 9% from a medical spa or aesthetic medical center, per KFF’s October–November 2025 poll [2].
Broader affordability pressure shows up too: 26% of all adults say they or someone in their household had problems paying for prescription drugs in the past 12 months, rising to 41% among uninsured adults [2]. On the employer side, J.P. Morgan reports about 55% of commercial employers currently cover GLP-1s for obesity, but 15% of those have dropped coverage due to unsustainable costs [3].
Are people taking brand-name drugs or compounded versions?
Mostly brand-name, but compounded versions are gaining ground on price.
Gallup’s survey fielded May 28–June 5, 2026 found 66% of current users on a brand-name GLP-1, 18% on a compounded or custom-mixed version, and 13% unsure which they are taking — figures from the revised estimates published September 8, 2026 [1]. Movement runs toward compounding: 36% of compounded users switched from a brand name, versus 11% who switched the other way, and 53% of those who switched to a compounded version cited cost or insurance coverage as the primary reason, versus 38% of those who switched to a brand [1].
Reported effectiveness is similar and high in both groups: 38% of compounded users call the drugs “extremely effective” versus 33% of brand-name users, and 80% versus 74% say the medicine is at least “effective” [1]. Gallup cautions that the margin of error for these GLP-1 type subgroups is much larger — as high as ±10 percentage points [1].
Is the US obesity rate actually falling?
It is declining by both major trackers, though how much credit GLP-1s deserve is not established.
Gallup’s adult obesity rate peaked at a record 39.9% in 2022, fell to 37.0% in 2025 and sits at 36.8% in 2026 — a decline Gallup calls statistically meaningful and says inversely tracks rising GLP-1 use [1][4]. Gallup estimated the 2022-to-2025 drop equals about 7.6 million fewer obese adults [4]. Epic’s BMI tracker, built from clinical records rather than self-report, shows the obese share of adults edging down from 42.3% in the second quarter of 2021 to 40.7% in the first quarter of 2026, with the healthy-weight share rising from 25.1% to 25.6% [6].
Two cautions apply. First, Gallup calculates obesity from self-reported height and weight (BMI of 30 or higher), and a “vanity effect” in how people report themselves means Gallup’s estimates typically run lower than studies using measured height and weight — though the consistent method makes the trend useful [1][4]. Gallup’s 2026 obesity and diabetes figures are based on 10,091 respondents surveyed February 18–March 3 and May 28–June 5, 2026, and its 2025 obesity figures on 16,946 adults surveyed across the first three quarters of 2025 [1][4]. Second, Gallup reports correlation — obesity declining as GLP-1 use rises — not proof of cause [1][4].
The pattern holds within groups, with one exception. Men’s obesity fell 2.3 points to 35.2% and women’s fell 3.5 points to 38.8% between 2022 and 2025, with the biggest drops among adults 40–49 and 50–64 — the same groups with the highest GLP-1 use [4]. Adults 65 and older show no obesity reduction since 2022 despite their usage [1][4].
Diabetes diagnoses tell a slower story: Gallup recorded an all-time high of 13.8% in 2025, then 12.8% in 2026 — the first time under 13% since 2022 [1][4]. Gallup notes that because diabetes is a lifetime diagnosis, a falling obesity rate would be expected to stabilize, not rapidly reduce, the diagnosed rate [1].
What could change these numbers next?
Several forces point toward more use: pills, broader coverage, and cheaper supply.
An oral GLP-1 from Novo Nordisk was approved by the FDA at the end of 2025 and became widely available in early January 2026, and an oral option from Eli Lilly is expected in early Q2 2026 [3]. On coverage, a CMS pilot program called BALANCE seeks to negotiate pricing and coverage terms with GLP-1 manufacturers on behalf of state Medicaid agencies and Medicare Part D plan sponsors, with Medicare recipients expected to be covered subject to a $50 monthly cap on patient out-of-pocket spending [3]. The Trump administration announced GLP-1 cost and coverage deals on November 6, 2025 — after KFF’s poll was fielded, so its numbers do not reflect any response to those deals [2].
Countervailing pressure exists on the employer side, where 15% of employers covering GLP-1s for obesity have already dropped that coverage over cost [3]. On supply, GLP-1 patents are set to expire in China, India, Brazil, Canada and Turkey — markets holding 40% of the global population — which could bring generics and lower prices, though J.P. Morgan notes large capital requirements may limit the impact [3]. Within Medicaid, Gallup reported in 2025 that 13 states fully cover GLP-1s for obesity treatment [4].
How to read any GLP-1 statistic you come across
Check three things before comparing numbers: whether the figure counts weight-loss use only or all reasons; whether it is current use or ever-use; and when the data was actually collected versus when it was published [1][2].
The date lag matters. KFF’s poll was fielded October 27–November 2, 2025 and published November 14, 2025; Gallup’s was fielded May 28–June 5, 2026, published July 7, 2026 and revised September 8, 2026 [1][2]. In a fast-moving market, seven months of difference can move the number on its own.
Also keep brand names and molecules straight. Ozempic and Wegovy are both semaglutide; Mounjaro and Zepbound are both tirzepatide; Saxenda is liraglutide [1][6]. Gallup’s question names semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepatide together, and KFF’s 2024 question named Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, Rybelsus, Trulicity and semaglutide together — both surveys count the class as a whole rather than any single brand [1][5]. Wegovy was FDA-approved for weight loss in 2021, Zepbound in November 2023, and liraglutide (Saxenda) in 2014 [1][4][6]. And as of the first quarter of 2026, the most-prescribed GLP-1 molecule in the US is tirzepatide, not semaglutide [6].
Sources
- Gallup. In U.S., GLP-1 Usage Reaches New High.
- KFF. KFF Health Tracking Poll: Prescription Drug Costs, Views on Trump Administration Actions, and GLP-1 Use. November 14, 2025.
- J.P. Morgan. How Supply and Demand for Weight Loss Drugs is Playing Out in 2026.
- Gallup. Obesity Rate Declining in U.S.
- KFF. KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024: The Public’s Use and Views of GLP-1 Drugs. May 10, 2024.
- Epic Research. GLP-1 Use Has More Than Quadrupled Since 2021 as Obesity Rates Continue to Show Signs of Decline.
- Forbes Health. GLP-1 Statistics & Trends: Usage, Market Size, Pricing & Research (2026). June 4, 2026.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Data Brief Number 537. July 2025.
- PwC. GLP-1 consumer trends 2026: The end of more: How GLP-1 users shop, eat, and seek support. June 22, 2026.
- Food Dive. Food makers warn GLP-1s will have ‘lasting influence’ on sector.
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare GLP-1 Bridge.
- The Washington Post. Americans are taking weight-loss drugs in record numbers. July 7, 2026.
- Northwestern Now. Why do so many people stop taking weight-loss drugs within a year? November 8, 2024.
- Cornell Chronicle. Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy. December 2025.
- Business Group on Health. How Are Employers Managing GLP-1 Coverage Amid Rising Demand and Costs?
Frequently asked questions
Is the right current-use figure 11% or 12%?
Both are real; they measure different things. Gallup's 11% counts adults currently taking a GLP-1 for weight loss only, from a survey fielded May 28–June 5, 2026. KFF's 12% counts adults currently taking one for any reason — weight loss, diabetes or heart disease — from a survey fielded October 27–November 2, 2025. KFF's all-reason scope pushes its number higher.
How many millions of Americans does that represent?
No sourced survey states a headcount. J.P. Morgan Global Research estimates about 10 million Americans were on GLP-1s in 2025 and projects roughly 25 million by 2030, with its own article also citing upwards of 30 million in 2030 — figures that vary within the same piece. Multiplying KFF's 12% by roughly a quarter-billion US adults works out to about 30 million, but that is rough arithmetic, not a survey or prescription count.
Is GLP-1 use mostly for weight loss or for diabetes and heart disease?
Both. KFF's poll fielded April 23–May 1, 2024 found 62% of ever-users took a GLP-1 to treat a chronic condition such as diabetes or heart disease, while about four in ten took it primarily to lose weight. That split is why Gallup's weight-loss-only figure (11%) sits below KFF's all-reason figure (12%).
Which age group uses GLP-1s the most?
Middle-aged adults. KFF's October–November 2025 poll found current use highest among adults 50–64 at 22%. Gallup's data from the first three quarters of 2025 shows the same peak for weight-loss use: 17.0% among adults 50–64 and 16.2% among adults 40–49.
Do more women than men take GLP-1s?
For weight loss, yes. Gallup found 15.2% of women versus 9.7% of men taking GLP-1s for weight loss across the first three quarters of 2025, with both more than doubling in a year. KFF's poll fielded April 23–May 1, 2024, which counted all reasons, found similar shares of men and women reporting ever-use.
Why do so few adults over 65 use GLP-1s?
Coverage. KFF found 9% of adults 65 and older currently using a GLP-1 in its October–November 2025 poll and attributes the low rate to Medicare's lack of coverage for drugs used specifically for weight loss. Its April–May 2024 poll found just 1% of adults 65 and older had ever taken a GLP-1 to lose weight, versus 8% for a chronic condition.
What share of diagnosed diabetics take these drugs?
KFF's October–November 2025 poll found 45% of adults who say they have been diagnosed with diabetes report currently using a GLP-1. Gallup's data from the first three quarters of 2025 found 14.1% of diagnosed adults using these drugs specifically for weight loss. A CDC/NCHS Data Brief (No. 537, August 2025) covers GLP-1 injectable use among adults with diagnosed diabetes in 2024.
Are US obesity rates actually falling?
Both major trackers say yes. Gallup's adult obesity rate fell from a record 39.9% in 2022 to 37.0% in 2025 and 36.8% in 2026. Epic's clinical-records tracker shows the obese share of adults declining from 42.3% in Q2 2021 to 40.7% in Q1 2026. Gallup reports the decline inversely tracks rising GLP-1 use — a correlation, not proof of cause — and its figures come from self-reported height and weight.
This article summarizes FDA labeling, published research and company information current as of September 14, 2026. It is not medical advice and does not replace a conversation with your own healthcare provider. How we research and verify.