Key Statistics for Prostate Cancer

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States.

How common is prostate cancer?

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for prostate cancer in the United States for 2026 are:

• About 333,830 new cases of prostate cancer
• About 36,320 deaths from prostate cancer

From 2014 through 2022, the rate of prostate cancers being diagnosed in the US increased by about 3% per year.

Risk of getting prostate cancer

About 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. But each man’s risk of prostate cancer depends on his age, race/ethnicity, and other factors.

For example, prostate cancer is more likely to develop in older men. About 6 in 10 prostate cancers are diagnosed in men who are 65 or older, and it is rare in men under 40. The average age of men when they are first diagnosed is about 68.

Prostate cancer risk is also higher in Black men than in men of other races.

To learn more, see Prostate Cancer Causes, Risk Factors, and Prevention.

Deaths from prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men in the US, behind only lung cancer. About 1 in 49 men will die of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer can be a serious disease, but most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it. In fact, more than 3.5 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.

The prostate cancer death rate declined by about half from 1993 to 2023, most likely due to earlier detection and advances in treatment. In recent years, the decline in the death rate has slowed, likely reflecting the rise in cancers being found at an advanced stage.

More information

For statistics related to survival, see Survival Rates for Prostate Cancer.

Visit our Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.