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US Kidney Statistics

Kidney Disease Statistics in New Jersey, USA

Kidney disease is one of New Jersey’s most serious and costly public health challenges. The state ranks 4th nationally in the percentage of adults diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the condition stands as the 9th leading cause of death in the state. More than 22,000 New Jersey residents are currently living with end-stage renal disease — kidney failure — a condition that is fatal without dialysis or a transplant, and nearly 16,000 of them depend on dialysis to survive each day.

This article compiles comprehensive statistical data on kidney disease across New Jersey, covering six major areas: the prevalence and rising trends of chronic kidney disease by gender, age, and race; mortality rates by year and racial group; the burden of end-stage renal disease and its treatment pathways; the financial cost of kidney care for patients and the Medicare system; the incidence of kidney and renal pelvis cancer across counties and over three decades; and the performance of New Jersey’s five kidney transplant centers, including clinical outcomes and patient wait times.

The data reveals several urgent and consistent themes. Kidney disease disproportionately affects Black New Jerseyans at every stage — from initial diagnosis through death. Diabetes and high blood pressure, which together cause nearly three-quarters of all kidney failures in the state, remain widespread across the general population. And while transplantation produces dramatically better long-term outcomes at far lower cost than dialysis, only about 3% of newly diagnosed kidney failure patients in New Jersey receive one.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)

Prevalence

New Jersey ranks 4th nationally in the percentage of adults who have ever been told by a health professional that they have kidney disease. For women aged 18–44 specifically, New Jersey ranks 3rd nationally, underscoring that the burden extends across age groups and genders.

Adults ever diagnosed with kidney disease: 3.2% — National Rank: 4th
Women ages 18–44 diagnosed with kidney disease: 1.1% — National Rank: 3rd

New Jersey’s CKD prevalence places it among the highest-burdened states in the country. Kidney disease also ranks as the 9th leading cause of death in New Jersey, with nearly 1,500 residents dying from it in 2014 alone. The elevated ranking among young women (ages 18–44) is a particularly notable concern, as it suggests the disease is not confined to older populations.

Trends by Gender, Age, and Race

Hospital discharge data examined from 2016 to 2024 reveals a steep and consistent rise in CKD prevalence across New Jersey. By 2024, CKD had become a routine finding among hospitalized patients, affecting nearly one in five admissions.

CKD Among Hospitalized Patients

In 2024, 18.3% of all New Jersey patients admitted to the hospital had CKD.

CKD Prevalence by Gender

Gender	2016 Rate	2024/2025 Rate	% Increase
Male	4.9%	7.7% (2024)	57.4%
Female	3.1%	4.8% (2025)	57.9%

CKD Prevalence by Age Group (2024)

Ages 45–64: 5.8%
Ages 65 and older: 16.0%

CKD by Race

All racial groups experienced a rise in CKD over the study period.
Black and White patients consistently had the highest prevalence rates compared with other groups.

CKD rates increased by more than 57% for both men and women over roughly a decade — a dramatic rise suggesting worsening underlying health conditions across the population, not merely improved detection.

Risk Factors

Two conditions — diabetes and high blood pressure — account for the overwhelming majority of kidney failure cases in New Jersey and are themselves widespread in the general population.

High blood pressure: 33.0% of the population
Obesity (self-reported): 25.7% of the population
Diabetes (diagnosed): 10.8% of the population

Diabetes and high blood pressure together drive nearly three-quarters of all kidney failure cases in New Jersey. With a third of all New Jersey residents living with high blood pressure and more than one in ten with diabetes, the state’s at-risk population is enormous.

End-Stage Renal Disease (Kidney Failure)

End-stage renal disease (ESRD), or kidney failure, is fatal without treatment — either dialysis or a transplant. This section covers the total ESRD population across two reporting periods, the treatment pathways taken by newly diagnosed patients, transplant volumes over time, and the racial disparities in who develops ESRD.

ESRD Population and Treatment Pathways

New Jersey tracks ESRD across multiple reporting periods, revealing the disease’s scale and the persistent imbalance between transplantation and dialysis as treatment pathways.

ESRD Population in New Jersey — Comparison Across Reporting Periods

Total residents living with ESRD: 22,773 (2021) → 22,987 (2024)
Patients on dialysis: 15,781 (2021) → 15,420 (2024)
Patients living with a kidney transplant: 6,992 (2021) → 7,567 (2024)
Patients on the transplant waitlist: 2,378 (2021) → 2,346 (2024)

New Kidney Failure Cases and Initial Treatment

Indicator	2018 Cases (per 2021 Report)	2021 Cases (per 2024 Report)
New cases diagnosed	3,818	3,782
Received a kidney transplant	120 (3.1%)	112 (3.0%)
Began dialysis	3,698 (96.9%)	3,670 (97.0%)

Kidney Transplants Performed in New Jersey

2016: 443 transplants
2020: 513 transplants — only ~1 in 5 waitlist patients received a transplant
2023: 901 transplants — a 133% increase from 2013; living donor transplants up 15% since 2013

Transplant Type Breakdown (2023)

Living donor transplants: 195
Deceased donor transplants: 706

Key Facts About ESRD Disability

More than 80% of ESRD patients cannot work due to disability.
Dialysis is effectively life support, and treating kidney failure and its comorbidities is more consuming than a full-time job.

New Jersey has approximately 23,000 residents living with kidney failure at any given time, and that number has remained essentially flat between 2021 and 2024. The most urgent finding is how few newly diagnosed patients receive a transplant: just 3% of new cases in both 2018 and 2021.

ESRD Incidence by Race/Ethnicity

ESRD incidence rates by race reveal persistent and widening disparities over the decade from 2010 to 2020. Rates are expressed per million population.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	NJ Overall
2010	34.9	87.0	23.4	23.1	38.3
2011	36.6	89.8	26.7	23.6	40.4
2012	36.4	85.0	24.1	21.6	38.9
2013	37.2	89.4	24.6	24.8	40.3
2014	40.8	91.9	25.9	22.1	42.8
2015	44.2	90.3	24.4	23.4	44.0
2016	43.7	84.3	27.0	22.9	43.1
2017	43.3	88.3	27.2	25.0	43.6
2018	41.5	86.7	28.2	26.2	42.6
2019	42.5	90.7	27.8	27.7	43.8
2020	36.7	94.8	26.0	25.0	41.0

Black New Jersey residents develop ESRD at rates more than double those of White, Hispanic, and Asian residents throughout the entire 2010–2020 period. The disparity widened in 2020, when the Black rate reached its highest point (94.8 per million) — even as the White rate dropped to its lowest of the decade (36.7).

Kidney Cancer

Kidney and renal pelvis cancer is the 7th most common cancer among New Jersey men and has risen substantially in both sexes over three decades.

Overview

Kidney and renal pelvis cancer is a significant contributor to the overall cancer burden in New Jersey. The following data provides a snapshot of the current burden and its trajectory compared to the national average.

New Kidney and Renal Pelvis Cancer Cases in New Jersey — Men (2022)

Rank among male cancers: 7th
Total cases: 1,246
Share of all male cancers: 4%

New Jersey vs. United States — Male Kidney Cancer Incidence (2018–2022)

Geography	Age-Adjusted Rate (per 100,000)	Average Annual Count	Recent 5-Year Trend
New Jersey	22.2 (95% CI: 21.6–22.8)	1,199	Stable (+0.1%)
United States	23.7 (95% CI: 23.6–23.8)	45,124	Falling (−1.1%)

New Jersey’s kidney cancer incidence among men (22.2 per 100,000) is slightly below the national average of 23.7. However, the more important comparison is in trend: nationally, incidence is falling at a rate of 1.1% per year, while New Jersey’s rate is essentially flat (+0.1%).

Incidence by County (2018–2022)

County-level data for male kidney and renal pelvis cancer incidence (2018–2022) reveals significant geographic variation across New Jersey’s 21 counties.

County	Age-Adjusted Rate (per 100,000)	95% CI	Avg. Annual Count	Recent Trend
Salem County	32.3	24.7–41.7	13	Stable (+0.8%)
Gloucester County	26.5	23.1–30.3	47	Stable (+0.3%)
Camden County	26.0	23.4–28.8	77	Stable (−0.1%)
Warren County	25.0	20.0–31.0	19	Stable (+0.8%)
Ocean County	24.9	22.7–27.3	106	Rising (+1.5%)
Burlington County	24.5	22.0–27.4	70	Stable (+0.3%)
Mercer County	24.2	21.2–27.5	51	Rising (+1.8%)
Cumberland County	24.0	19.5–29.4	20	Falling (−2.0%)
Atlantic County	22.6	19.4–26.2	39	Stable (+0.4%)
Sussex County	22.6	18.4–27.6	22	Stable (+0.4%)
New Jersey (overall)	22.2	21.6–22.8	1,199	Stable (+0.1%)
Bergen County	22.2	20.5–24.1	131	Stable (+0.0%)
Monmouth County	22.0	20.0–24.3	90	Stable (+1.0%)
Passaic County	21.6	19.1–24.2	59	Stable (+0.5%)
Hunterdon County	21.4	17.0–26.7	18	Stable (+0.3%)
Middlesex County	21.1	19.2–23.0	102	Stable (−0.1%)
Cape May County	20.9	16.0–26.9	16	Falling (−17.8%)
Morris County	20.5	18.3–23.0	65	Stable (+0.3%)
Union County	20.2	17.9–22.6	63	Stable (+0.2%)
Somerset County	20.0	17.3–23.0	43	Stable (+0.0%)
Hudson County	19.3	17.2–21.5	65	Rising (+1.1%)
Essex County	19.1	17.3–21.1	83	Stable (+0.6%)
United States	23.7	23.6–23.8	45,124	Falling (−1.1%)

Salem County records the highest kidney cancer incidence in the state — 32.3 per 100,000, roughly 45% above the statewide average — though its small annual case count (13) means these figures carry wider statistical uncertainty.

Incidence by Year and Sex (1990–2022)

Three decades of cancer incidence data track the long-term trajectory of kidney and renal pelvis cancer in New Jersey. Throughout this period, incidence has risen substantially for both sexes, with men consistently showing rates approximately twice those of women.

Male Incidence

Year	Rate (per 100,000)	Count
1990	15.5	530
1991	17.1	580
1992	17.1	582
1993	17.5	612
1994	16.1	570
1995	18.0	643
1996	18.3	666
1997	17.3	623
1998	19.4	720
1999	18.8	708
2000	18.9	731
2001	20.5	795
2002	20.1	794
2003	20.0	798
2004	20.9	855
2005	21.4	881
2006	22.2	916
2007	23.5	980
2008	22.5	964
2009	22.9	1,020
2010	21.2	943
2011	22.1	1,010
2012	22.0	1,021
2013	22.7	1,090
2014	22.2	1,098
2015	22.6	1,105
2016	22.5	1,138
2017	22.7	1,164
2018	23.9	1,253
2019	23.7	1,275
2020	19.5	1,051
2021	21.6	1,172
2022	22.4	1,246

Female Incidence

Year	Rate (per 100,000)	Count
1990	7.5	340
1991	7.8	353
1992	8.5	387
1993	8.6	397
1994	7.9	369
1995	9.3	435
1996	8.6	405
1997	9.5	459
1998	9.2	450
1999	9.8	479
2000	8.3	413
2001	10.0	494
2002	10.7	537
2003	9.5	486
2004	11.1	564
2005	11.1	573
2006	10.5	540
2007	10.6	553
2008	11.3	590
2009	10.8	570
2010	9.5	521
2011	9.8	543
2012	11.2	625
2013	11.2	629
2014	11.1	640
2015	11.4	670
2016	10.6	629
2017	10.9	644
2018	11.4	679
2019	10.8	655
2020	8.7	540
2021	10.4	645
2022	10.3	647

Over three decades, kidney cancer incidence has risen substantially for both sexes. Both sexes experienced a pronounced dip in 2020, almost certainly due to COVID-19 disruptions to routine screening and care, followed by a recovery in 2021–2022. The sex gap has remained consistent throughout: male rates are approximately double female rates in every year across the entire 32-year period.

Kidney Transplant Centers

New Jersey has five kidney transplant centers, varying significantly in volume, program participation, clinical outcomes, and patient wait times. This section covers each center’s donor and recipient performance, adult and pediatric transplant outcomes, and the wait time each patient can expect depending on where they choose to list.

Donor Performance

Centers are ranked by the number of NKR (National Kidney Registry) transplants facilitated in the past 12 months and evaluated on their participation in donor support programs.

Rank	Center	NKR Transplants (Last 12 Mo.)	DD Prioritization	LD Prioritization	Donor Shield	Remote Donation	Voucher Program	NKR Member	Equal Access	Donor Referral Network
1	Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center	15	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
2	Hackensack University Medical Center	12	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
3	Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital	4	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
4	Newark Beth Israel Medical Center	0	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
5	The Transplant Center at Robert Wood Johnson	0	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Totals	31	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3

DD = Deceased Donor · LD = Living Donor. Note: No center participates in the Kidney for Life, Donor Care Network, or Nutcracker Care Network programs.

New Jersey’s transplant landscape is sharply divided between the top three centers and the bottom two. Cooperman Barnabas and Hackensack together account for 87% of all NKR transplants (27 of 31), and both participate in all or nearly all donor support programs.

Recipient Performance

Recipient performance evaluates how many transplants each center facilitates for its waiting patients, the proportion using living donors (a preferred outcome), and participation in patient-facing programs.

Rank	Center	NKR Transplants (12 Mo.)	NKR LD Transplants	*LD Txs (Prior Year)**	NKR % Living Donor	Low Eplet Txs	Patient Microsites	Non-Steroidal Protocol	Voucher Program	NKR Member	Equal Access
1	Hackensack University Medical Center	12	16	52	31%	4	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
2	Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center	15	13	83	16%	2	N	Y	Y	Y	N
3	Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital	4	4	10	40%	0	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
4	Newark Beth Israel Medical Center	0	0	0	0%	0	N	?	N	N	N
5	The Transplant Center at Robert Wood Johnson	0	0	14	0%	0	N	?	N	N	N
Totals	31	33	159	21%	6	2	3	3	3	2

Prior Year: 04/01/2025 – 03/31/2026. Note: No center is a Kidney for Life Participant or holds Microsite Center of Excellence status.

Hackensack University Medical Center ranks first among recipients due to its combination of high living donor rates (31%), patient-facing microsites, and equal access commitment. Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes has the highest living donor transplant rate (40%) among NKR cases — a meaningful quality indicator, as living donor kidneys typically result in better long-term outcomes than deceased donor kidneys.

Transplant Outcomes

Transplant outcomes measure graft survival (the transplanted kidney continuing to function) and patient survival at one and three years, for both living donor (LD) and deceased donor (DD) transplants, across adult and pediatric patient populations.

Adult Outcomes

Adult transplant outcomes cover all patients aged 18 and older. One-year and three-year graft and patient survival rates are reported for both living and deceased donor transplants.

Rank	Center	NKR Txs (12 Mo.)	LD Txs (Prior Yr.)	LD 1-Yr Graft	LD 1-Yr Patient	DD 1-Yr Graft	DD 1-Yr Patient
1	Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center	15	83	100%	100%	92%	95%
2	Hackensack University Medical Center	12	52	99%	99%	92%	96%
3	Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital	4	10	100%	100%	92%	98%
4	Newark Beth Israel Medical Center	0	0	100%	100%	94%	96%
5	The Transplant Center at Robert Wood Johnson	0	14	91%	95%	89%	95%

LD = Living Donor · DD = Deceased Donor

New Jersey’s adult transplant centers achieve strong outcomes overall, particularly at the one-year mark for living donor transplants, where three of five centers reach 100% graft survival.

Pediatric Outcomes

Pediatric transplant outcomes cover patients under 18 years of age. Four of the five New Jersey centers report pediatric data. Small patient volumes in this category mean individual cases have a greater statistical impact on reported rates.

Rank	Center	NKR Txs (12 Mo.)	LD Txs (Prior Yr.)	LD 1-Yr Graft	LD 1-Yr Patient	DD 1-Yr Graft	DD 1-Yr Patient
1	Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center	15	83	100%	100%	100%	100%
2	Hackensack University Medical Center	12	52	100%	100%	89%	100%
3	Newark Beth Israel Medical Center	0	0	83%	83%	100%	100%
4	The Transplant Center at Robert Wood Johnson	0	14	100%	100%	67%	100%

LD = Living Donor · DD = Deceased Donor · Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes does not report pediatric outcomes.

Pediatric patient survival rates reach 100% at three years in every center reporting data — a strong indicator of care quality for the state’s youngest kidney patients.

Wait Times

The wait for a deceased-donor kidney transplant is one of the most critical factors in patient outcomes. Wait times vary dramatically across New Jersey’s transplant centers, and center selection can mean the difference of years on the waitlist.

Center	Wait Time	Waitlist Patients	2025 Transplants
Hackensack University Medical Center	24 months	667 patients	238
St. Barnabas Medical Center (Cooperman Barnabas)	35 months	1,064 patients	291
Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center	39 months	315 patients	92
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital	62 months	460 patients	71

Wait times in New Jersey range from 24 months at Hackensack University Medical Center — just two years — to 62 months (more than five years) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. This is a difference of nearly three and a half years for the same transplant.

Kidney Disease Mortality

Overall Mortality

Kidney disease consistently claims the lives of more than 1,600 New Jersey residents per year. New Jersey’s mortality rate has exceeded the national average in every year from 2020 to 2023.

Age-adjusted death rate: 14.4 per 100,000
Total deaths: 1,806

Deaths Due to Kidney Disease by Year — New Jersey vs. United States (2020–2023)

Location	Year	Age-Adjusted Rate (per 100,000)	Count
New Jersey	2020	14.6	1,670
New Jersey	2021	14.2	1,647
New Jersey	2022	14.9	1,767
New Jersey	2023	14.2	1,727
United States	2020	12.7	52,547
United States	2021	13.6	54,358
United States	2022	13.8	57,937
United States	2023	13.1	55,253

New Jersey’s kidney disease mortality rate has consistently exceeded the national average across all four years, by a margin of roughly 1.1 to 1.9 points per 100,000. Both New Jersey and the nation experienced a spike in 2022, with rates declining again in 2023.

Mortality by Race/Ethnicity

Kidney disease mortality in New Jersey is profoundly unequal across racial and ethnic groups. Black New Jerseyans bear a dramatically disproportionate burden, both in rate and absolute numbers. The following data tracks age-adjusted death rates from 2020 to 2023.

Race/Ethnicity	Year	Age-Adjusted Rate (per 100,000)	Count
White	2020	12.9	1,057
White	2021	13.4	1,094
White	2022	14.4	1,190
White	2023	13.5	1,136
Black	2020	30.8	365
Black	2021	28.7	342
Black	2022	28.5	346
Black	2023	27.7	352
Hispanic	2020	11.8	154
Hispanic	2021	9.9	137
Hispanic	2022	9.3	137
Hispanic	2023	9.9	158
Asian	2020	10.8	87
Asian	2021	8.1	70
Asian	2022	9.7	90
Asian	2023	7.6	75

Key Racial Mortality Benchmarks

Black males: age-adjusted mortality rate of 38.9 per 100,000 vs. average for all males of 18.7
Black females: age-adjusted mortality rate of 27.9 per 100,000 vs. average for all females of 14.2

The racial disparity in kidney disease mortality is among the most striking findings in New Jersey’s health data. Black residents die from kidney disease at more than twice the rate of White residents and more than three times the rate of Hispanic and Asian residents — in every single year from 2020 to 2023.

Medicare and Financial Burden

Kidney disease places an enormous financial burden on both the Medicare system and individual patients. This section covers the scale of Medicare expenditure on kidney disease in New Jersey across two reporting periods, and the personal financial hardship..

Medicare Impact

Kidney disease is one of the most resource-intensive conditions managed by Medicare. New Jersey data from two distinct reporting periods illustrates both the scale of the problem and how it has evolved over time.

Medicare patients diagnosed with CKD: 5,741
Medicare patients on dialysis: 12,624
Medicare patients with a kidney transplant: 8,910
Patients on the transplant waitlist: 2,435
Kidney transplants performed (2016): 443
Patients who died while on waitlist (2016): 101

Medicare Kidney Disease Data — 2023 Reporting Period

Medicare patients with CKD diagnosed: 11.38% of all Medicare patients
Medicare patients on dialysis: 11,162
Patients on the kidney transplant waitlist: 2,145
Kidney transplants performed (2022): 642
Patients who died while on waitlist (2022): 92

The Medicare data shows notable progress in some areas alongside persistent challenges. The number of patients dying while awaiting a transplant declined from 101 in 2016 to 92 in 2022, and transplants performed rose from 443 to 642 over the same period — a 45% increase.

Financial Burden

Kidney disease imposes one of the largest personal financial burdens of any chronic disease. The cost differential between dialysis and transplantation is stark, and many patients face extreme hardship relative to their income.

Average Annual Cost to Medicare

Stage / Treatment	Earlier Period	2023 Data
Pre-kidney failure	—	$25,920
Dialysis patient	$85,979	$79,439
First year after transplant	$32,586	$23,308*
Kidney disease test	$80–$143	—

*Of the post-transplant cost, $6,947 per person per year was for immunosuppressants (2016–2019 figures).

Patient Financial Hardship

Average annual income of patients assisted by the American Kidney Fund (AKF): less than $25,000
Average annual out-of-pocket costs for dialysis patients: more than $10,000
More than 80% of ESRD patients are unable to work due to disability

AKF Charitable Assistance in New Jersey

2020: 2,662 NJ patients assisted — $10,500,000 in total assistance
2023: 1,725 NJ patients assisted — $7,327,060 in total assistance

Insurance Coverage of AKF Charitable Premium Assistance Recipients (2023)

Medicare Part B: 44.6%
Medicare Part B: 23.4%
Employer group health plans (including COBRA): 17.2%
Medicare Advantage: 1.4%

Demographics of AKF-Assisted Patients

More than 60% are minorities
34.7% are Black
20.9% are Hispanic/Latino
5.2% are Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander

Dialysis costs Medicare roughly $80,000–$86,000 per patient per year — more than three times the cost of post-transplant care ($23,000–$32,000). This cost differential makes a compelling economic case for expanding transplant access.

Conclusion

Kidney disease in New Jersey presents a picture of rising prevalence, persistent mortality, and enormous clinical burden. The share of hospitalized patients with CKD climbed from under 5% to over 18% in less than a decade. More than 22,000 residents live with kidney failure at any given time, nearly 16,000 of them dependent on dialysis — a treatment that costs Medicare nearly $80,000 per patient per year while leaving more than 80% of patients unable to work. Despite meaningful progress in transplant volume — 901 procedures in 2023 compared to 443 in 2016 — the vast majority of newly diagnosed patients still begin dialysis rather than receiving a kidney.

Racial inequity is the most persistent and alarming pattern throughout New Jersey’s kidney disease data. Black New Jerseyans develop end-stage renal disease at rates more than double those of any other group, die from kidney disease at rates approaching three times the statewide average, and represent 34.7% of the low-income patients requiring charitable financial assistance — all while earning, on average, under $25,000 per year and facing out-of-pocket dialysis costs that can exceed $10,000 annually. These disparities have remained stubbornly consistent across multiple decades of data, across every metric from incidence to mortality to financial hardship, and show no signs of meaningfully narrowing.

Some trends are genuinely encouraging. New Jersey’s transplant centers performed 133% more kidney transplants in 2023 than in 2013, and living donor transplants grew by 15% over the same period. Patient survival rates at the state’s leading centers are high, and post-transplant Medicare costs are less than a third of annual dialysis costs. The challenges ahead are clear: reducing wait times that span from 24 to 62 months depending on center; expanding transplant access to the populations served by the two centers with zero recent NKR activity; closing the racial gap in disease burden and outcomes; and — most fundamentally — reducing the prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure, the twin drivers of 73% of all kidney failure cases in New Jersey.