Osteoporosis & Bone Health Statistics for Women: What the Data Shows

Osteoporosis is often called a silent disease because bone loss gives no warning until something breaks. So how many women actually have it? What are the odds of a fracture, and what happens after a broken hip?

How many women get the bone density test they’re due for, and what does training do for bone? This page gathers the most reliable answers in one place.

The numbers come from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation and peer-reviewed studies. It’s written for women 25 and up.

Most national bone data covers women 50 and older, because that’s when testing starts. The habits that decide those numbers start decades earlier, so the peak bone mass section matters at any age.

Every figure links to its original source at the bottom of the page. Data last checked November 2026.

Jump to a sectionIn this article15 sections

1. Key Osteoporosis Statistics for Women at a Glance
2. Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mass in Women by Age
3. Lifetime Fracture Risk for Women
4. Hip Fractures in Women: How Common and What Happens After
5. Peak Bone Mass and When Bone Loss Starts
6. Bone Loss Around Menopause
7. Bone Density Screening (DXA) vs. the Guidelines
8. The Treatment Gap After a Fracture
9. Falls in Older Women
10. Calcium and Vitamin D: What the Data Says
11. Strength and Impact Training for Bone
12. What These Numbers Mean for You
13. How to Cite These Statistics
14. Sources
15. Frequently Asked Questions

Key Osteoporosis Statistics for Women at a Glance

• 19.6% of U.S. women 50 and older have osteoporosis, compared with 4.4% of men.¹
• Another 51.5% of women 50 and older have low bone mass (osteopenia).¹
• Osteoporosis in women 50+ rose from 14.0% in 2007–2008 to 19.6% in 2017–2018.¹
• About 1 in 2 women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis.⁴
• Women had 201,615 hip fracture hospitalizations in 2019, about 7 in 10 of all hip fracture stays among adults 65 and older.⁶
• In the year after a hip fracture, 16.9% of older women died, about twice the rate of similar women without one (8.4%).⁸
• Only 40% to 60% of hip fracture survivors regain their earlier level of mobility.⁹
• Just 24.8% of women 50 to 64 without an osteoporosis diagnosis have ever had a bone density (DXA) scan.³
• Use of osteoporosis medicine in the year after a hip fracture fell from 40.2% in 2002 to 20.5% in 2011.¹⁴
• 28.9% of women 65 and older reported a fall in the past year, compared with 26.1% of men.¹⁶
• Exercise programs cut the rate of falls in older adults by 23%.¹⁸
• In the LIFTMOR trial, supervised heavy lifting and impact training raised spine bone density by 2.9% in 8 months, while the control group lost 1.2%.¹⁹

Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mass in Women by Age

NHANES measures bone density with DXA scans of the hip and spine in a national sample. In 2017–2018, about 7 in 10 women 50 and older had either osteoporosis or low bone mass:¹

Age	Osteoporosis	Low bone mass
50–64	13.1%	50.3%
65+	27.1%	52.9%
All 50+	19.6%	51.5%
Men 50+	4.4%	33.5%

• The all-ages rows are age-adjusted. Osteoporosis was about four times as common in women as in men.¹
• Among women, osteoporosis rose from 14.0% in 2007–2008 to 19.6% in 2017–2018. The change in men was not significant.¹
• That works out to about 30.7 million U.S. women 50 and older with low bone mass.²
• In a 2022 national survey, 21.5% of women 50 and older said a doctor had diagnosed them with osteoporosis: 9.2% at ages 50 to 64 and 33.8% at 65 and older.³
• The NIH notes that osteoporosis is most common in non-Hispanic white and Asian women, and that women have lower peak bone mass and smaller bones than men.¹²

Low bone mass means bone density is lower than normal but not yet in the osteoporosis range. If that’s where you are, see my osteopenia diet guide.

Lifetime Fracture Risk for Women

The Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF) estimates that about 1 in 2 women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis, compared with up to 1 in 4 men.⁴

The Surgeon General’s report on bone health breaks the risk down for the three classic fracture sites. For a white woman at age 50, the chance of each fracture over the rest of her life is:⁵

Fracture	Lifetime risk
Hip, spine or wrist	About 40%
Hip	17%
Spine	16%
Wrist	16%

• The same report puts white men at 50 at 13% for any of these three fractures and 6% for a hip fracture.⁵
• The roughly 40% figure counts only the hip, spine and wrist. BHOF’s 1 in 2 estimate includes other osteoporotic fractures, which is why the two numbers differ.^4,5
• BHOF counts about two million broken bones from osteoporosis each year in the U.S., with about $19 billion in related costs.⁴
• The risk is lower for women of other racial and ethnic groups, but it is still real.^5,12

Hip Fractures in Women: How Common and What Happens After

Hip fractures are the most serious osteoporotic fracture. CDC researchers counted 290,130 hip fracture hospitalizations among adults 65 and older in 2019, and women made up most of them:⁶

Group	Hospital stays	Rate per 100,000
Women 65+	201,615	668.9
Men 65+	88,505	415.7

• Falls caused 89.3% of women’s hip fracture hospitalizations.⁶
• After a hip fracture hospital stay, 82.8% of older adults were discharged to a skilled nursing, rehab or other facility rather than straight home.⁶
• In Medicare data from 1986 to 2005, 77.2% of hip fractures happened in women. Women’s age-adjusted hip fracture rate rose until 1995, then fell 24.5% by 2005.⁷

The year after a hip fracture is the most dangerous. In a large U.S. study of women 65 and older, mortality in the year after a hip fracture was about twice that of matched women without one:⁸

Age	Hip fracture	No fracture
65–69	16.3%	3.7%
70–79	16.5%	8.9%
All 65+	16.9%	8.4%

• Women 65 to 69 stayed at higher risk of death for years after the fracture, not just the first year.⁸
• BHOF states that about 20% of seniors who break a hip die within one year.⁴
• A review of 38 studies found that only 40% to 60% of survivors regained their earlier mobility, and 40% to 70% regained independence in basic daily tasks.⁹
• Among people who were independent before the fracture, 20% to 60% needed help with some tasks one and two years later, and 10% to 20% moved into long-term care.⁹

Peak Bone Mass and When Bone Loss Starts

Bone builds fastest in childhood and the teen years. The NIH bone health center says up to 90% of peak bone mass is in place by age 18 in girls, and bone mass can keep growing until around age 30.¹⁰

• Women tend to see little change in total bone mass between about 30 and menopause. In the first few years after menopause, most women lose bone quickly, and the loss then slows but continues.¹⁰
• For many women, osteoporosis starts a year or two before menopause.¹²
• A bone remodeling model found that a 10% higher peak bone density could delay osteoporosis by about 13 years. Changing the age of menopause or the rate of later bone loss by 10% delayed it by only about 2 years.¹¹
• That model suggests peak bone density may be the single most important factor in whether osteoporosis develops.¹¹

That makes your 20s and early 30s the best time to build bone, and every decade after that about holding on to it.

Bone Loss Around Menopause

Bone loss speeds up in the years around the final menstrual period, when estrogen drops. I cover the SWAN study’s spine and hip numbers in detail in my menopause statistics, so I won’t repeat them here.

The short version: the loss is fastest across the menopause transition, which is why bone screening and strength training matter most from your mid-40s on.

Bone Density Screening (DXA) vs. the Guidelines

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (January 2025) recommends osteoporosis screening for all women 65 and older. It also recommends screening for postmenopausal women under 65 who have risk factors and are found to be at increased risk.¹³

Screening means a DXA scan of the hip and spine, with or without a fracture risk tool.¹³

Many women still haven’t had one. Among women 50 and older without an osteoporosis diagnosis in 2022, these were the shares who had ever had a DXA scan:³

Group	Ever had DXA
Women 50–64	24.8%
Women 65+	67.6%
All women 50+	42.8%
White	47.7%
Black	37.1%
Asian	30.4%
Hispanic	25.4%

• About 1 in 3 women 65 and older without a diagnosis had never had a DXA scan, even though the Task Force recommends it for every woman that age.^3,13
• Women 65 and older on Medicare plus private insurance (72.4%) or Medicare only (69.4%) were far more likely to have been scanned than those on Medicare plus other public coverage (45.8%).³
• Women with a usual source of care were more likely to have had a scan (45.3%) than women without one (30.7%).³
• Race and ethnicity rows are for all women 50 and older.³

The Treatment Gap After a Fracture

A broken hip is a strong warning sign of osteoporosis, yet most patients don’t go on to bone medicine. Two large U.S. insurance-claims studies of adults 50 and older found treatment rates falling over time:^14,15

Measure	Earlier	Later
Any use, 12 mo	40.2% (2002)	20.5% (2011)
New start, 6 mo	9.8% (2004)	3.3% (2015)

• “Any use” is from a study of 96,887 hip fracture patients: overall, only 28.5% used an osteoporosis medicine in the year after leaving the hospital.¹⁴
• “New start” covers about 97,000 patients who weren’t on bone medicine before the fracture, counting new prescriptions within 180 days.¹⁵
• In the second study, starting treatment was linked to about 4 fewer new fractures per 100 patients per year.¹⁵
• The strongest predictor of treatment after a fracture was already being on treatment before it.¹⁴

Falls in Older Women

Most fractures in older women start with a fall. In 2020, 14 million adults 65 and older (27.6%) reported falling in the past year. Women fell more often, but men were more likely to die from a fall:¹⁶

Group	Fell in past year	Fall deaths per 100,000
Women 65+	28.9%	68.3
Men 65+	26.1%	91.4

• Fall rates are from 2020 and death rates from 2021, when 38,742 older adults died from unintentional falls.¹⁶
• About 37% of older adults who fall report an injury that needs medical care or limits activity for at least a day.¹⁷
• Falling once doubles the chance of falling again.¹⁷
• Falls caused about 88% of hip fracture ER visits and hospital stays and about 83% of hip fracture deaths in 2019.^6,17

Falls are also one of the most preventable parts of the picture. A Cochrane review of community fall prevention trials in adults 60 and older found:¹⁸

Exercise type	Fewer falls
Any exercise	23%
Balance + functional	24%
Mixed programs	34%
Tai chi	19%

• “Mixed programs” usually combined balance and functional exercises with strength training. The evidence was high certainty for any exercise and balance work, moderate for mixed programs and low for tai chi.¹⁸
• Exercise also cut the number of people who fell at all by 15%.¹⁸
• It may cut the number of people with a fall-related fracture by 27%, though the evidence for that outcome is low certainty.¹⁸

To put this into practice, start with my balance training and fall prevention guide, the balance exercises for osteoporosis and the fall prevention home safety checklist.

Calcium and Vitamin D: What the Data Says

Calcium and vitamin D are the nutrients most tied to bone, and most women fall short from food alone. I break down intake by age in my women’s nutrition statistics.

• For healthy postmenopausal women living at home, the Task Force recommends against daily supplements of 400 IU or less of vitamin D with 1,000 mg or less of calcium to prevent fractures. It found evidence on higher doses insufficient.²²
• A December 2024 draft update goes further, recommending against vitamin D, with or without calcium, to prevent fractures or falls in this group. It was still a draft when this page was checked.²³
• Neither statement applies to women who already have osteoporosis, a past fracture or vitamin D deficiency. The draft stresses that everyone should still meet the recommended intake.^22,23

In other words, the data favors getting enough from food first. For practical lists, see calcium-rich foods for women and vitamin D and K foods for bones.

Strength and Impact Training for Bone

The best-known trial is LIFTMOR. It randomly assigned 101 postmenopausal women with low bone mass (average age 65) to 8 months of supervised, twice-weekly 30-minute sessions of heavy lifting plus jumping, or a home-based low-intensity program:¹⁹

Measure	Heavy training	Control
Spine BMD	+2.9%	−1.2%
Hip (femoral neck)	+0.3%	−1.9%
Height	+0.2 cm	−0.2 cm

• The training group reported only one adverse event, a minor low back spasm. Every session was closely supervised.¹⁹
• A 2021 meta-analysis of exercise trials in postmenopausal women found that heavier loads produced bigger bone responses, the same pattern seen in animal research.²⁰
• A 2025 meta-analysis of 17 trials (690 women) found resistance training improved spine and hip bone density. Training at 70% or more of one-rep max, three times a week, gave the clearest results.²¹

You’ll often see LIFTMOR summed up as a 4% gain in spine bone density. The training group actually gained 2.9%. The “about 4%” is the gap between the groups, because the control group lost 1.2% over the same months.¹⁹

For how this fits a full routine, see strength training after menopause, exercises for strong bones and my women’s exercise statistics.

What These Numbers Mean for You

Here’s my take as a coach: osteoporosis isn’t rare, and it isn’t only an “old lady” problem. Half of women over 50 already have low bone mass, and the habits behind that number start in your 20s and 30s.

The good news is that the biggest levers are things you control. Lift progressively heavier weights two or three times a week, add some impact if your doctor says it’s safe, and train your balance.

Get enough protein, calcium and vitamin D from food first. My bone health foods guide, best foods for bone density and osteoporosis diet make that simple.

Know your numbers. If you’re 65 or older, or postmenopausal with risk factors, ask about a DXA scan. If you’ve already broken a bone from a simple fall, ask whether you need treatment.

If you have low bone mass, get your doctor’s OK and good coaching before heavy lifting or jumping. The LIFTMOR women trained under close supervision and built up gradually.

How to Cite These Statistics

Sources

1. Sarafrazi N, Wambogo EA, Shepherd JA. Osteoporosis or Low Bone Mass in Older Adults: United States, 2017–2018. NCHS Data Brief No. 405, March 2021.
2. National Center for Health Statistics. Osteoporosis or Low Bone Mass in Older Adults: Questions for the Lead Author. NCHS data story, March 2021.
3. Berdahl TA. Bone Density Scan (DEXA) Utilization Among Women Without Diagnosed Osteoporosis Aged 50 and Older in the United States, 2022. AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief No. 569, December 2025.
4. Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation. What Is Osteoporosis and What Causes It?
5. Office of the Surgeon General. Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Report of the Surgeon General, Chapter 4: The Frequency of Bone Disease. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004.
6. Moreland BL, Legha JK, Thomas KE, Burns ER. Hip Fracture-Related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations and Deaths by Mechanism of Injury among Adults Aged 65 and Older, United States 2019. Journal of Aging and Health, 2023;35(5–6):345–355.
7. Brauer CA, Coca-Perraillon M, Cutler DM, Rosen AB. Incidence and Mortality of Hip Fractures in the United States. JAMA, 2009;302(14):1573–1579.
8. LeBlanc ES, Hillier TA, Pedula KL, et al. Hip Fracture and Increased Short-term but Not Long-term Mortality in Healthy Older Women. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2011;171(20):1831–1837.
9. Dyer SM, Crotty M, Fairhall N, et al. A critical review of the long-term disability outcomes following hip fracture. BMC Geriatrics, 2016;16:158.
10. NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center (NIAMS). Osteoporosis: Peak Bone Mass in Women. January 2012 (archived copy).
11. Hernandez CJ, Beaupré GS, Carter DR. A theoretical analysis of the relative influences of peak BMD, age-related bone loss and menopause on the development of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis International, 2003;14(10):843–847.
12. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Osteoporosis.
13. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Osteoporosis to Prevent Fractures: Screening. Final Recommendation Statement, January 14, 2025.
14. Solomon DH, Johnston SS, Boytsov NN, et al. Osteoporosis Medication Use After Hip Fracture in U.S. Patients Between 2002 and 2011. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2014;29(9):1929–1937.
15. Desai RJ, Mahesri M, Abdia Y, et al. Association of Osteoporosis Medication Use After Hip Fracture With Prevention of Subsequent Nonvertebral Fractures: An Instrumental Variable Analysis. JAMA Network Open, 2018;1(3):e180826.
16. Kakara R, Bergen G, Burns E, Stevens M. Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2020–2021. MMWR, 2023;72(35):938–943.
17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Older Adult Falls Data.
18. Sherrington C, Fairhall NJ, Wallbank GK, et al. Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019;1:CD012424.
19. Watson SL, Weeks BK, Weis LJ, Harding AT, Horan SA, Beck BR. High-Intensity Resistance and Impact Training Improves Bone Mineral Density and Physical Function in Postmenopausal Women With Osteopenia and Osteoporosis: The LIFTMOR Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2018;33(2):211–220.
20. Kistler-Fischbacher M, Weeks BK, Beck BR. The effect of exercise intensity on bone in postmenopausal women (part 2): A meta-analysis. Bone, 2021;143.
21. Optimal resistance training parameters for improving bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, 2025;20(1):523.
22. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Vitamin D, Calcium, or Combined Supplementation for the Primary Prevention of Fractures in Community-Dwelling Adults. Final Recommendation Statement, April 17, 2018.
23. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Vitamin D, Calcium, or Combined Supplementation for the Primary Prevention of Falls and Fractures in Community-Dwelling Adults. Draft Recommendation Statement, December 17, 2024.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page summarizes published research and government data for education only. It isn’t medical advice. Talk with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, heavy lifting or jumping, or bone-related supplements, especially if you have osteoporosis or low bone mass, a past fracture, back or joint problems, or take medicines that affect bone.

Get medical care right away after a fall that causes pain, trouble walking or a possible broken bone, and see a doctor about sudden back pain, losing height or a curving upper back, since these can signal a spine fracture. This page is not a substitute for personal care from a qualified professional.