Mental Health America (MHA) released updated state rankings in its most recent report,  2024 State of Mental Health in America.  

This report presents a collection of data that provides a baseline for answering some questions about how many people in America need and have access to mental health services. This report is a companion to the online interactive data on the MHA website.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a serious impact on the ability to collect national surveillance data in 2020.
During this time, federal agencies updated the measures they collect and how they are collected. As a result,
the indicators in this year’s State of Mental Health in America report cannot be compared to previous years.
The following summarizes how this year’s report has been updated from previous reports.

Most of these data were gathered through 2022. This means that they are the most current data
reported by the states and available to the public.

2024 Youth Ranking

The state of California ranks 20th in the 2024 Youth Ranking, which includes all 50 states and District of Columbia on the prevalence of youth mental illness and access to care.

States with rankings 1-13 have lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care for youth. States with rankings 39-51 indicate that youth have higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care.

Key findings from the report include:

• Approximately  60 million U.S. adults (23% of the population) experienced a mental illness in the past year.
• Approximately 13 million adults (5%) reported serious thoughts of suicide—at the same time suicide deaths hit a record high in 2022
• Substance use disorders affected nearly 45 million adults (18%), and a staggering 77–93% of those individuals did not receive treatment
• Cost and coverage barriers remain high:
• ~10% of adults with mental illness are uninsured
• ~25% of adults reporting 14+ mentally unhealthy days each month couldn’t see a doctor due to cost (a 2% rise)
• 10% have private insurance that does not cover mental health care

Interested in learning more about the state of youth mental health? Check out our podcast in which CHC experts provide nuanced understanding you need to navigate the complex reality of adolescent well being today.

Youth Mental Health

The national data indicates:

• 1 in 5 youths (approx. 20%) aged 12–17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
• > Half of those youths did not receive any mental health treatment.
• 3.4 million youths (13%) reported serious thoughts of suicide; rates were highest (25%) among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander youth and youth of multiple races.
• Substance use disorders affected ~9% of youths; with 7% having drug use disorders and 3% alcohol use disorders.
• 60.5% of youth are “flourishing”, an indicator of positive well-being—though this varies by state.
• 8.5% of youth with private insurance still lack mental health coverage

• Prevalence: About 20% of California teens (ages 12–17) had at least one major depressive episode in the past year, placing the state at 24th, very close to the U.S. average (~20.17%).
• Access to Care: A substantial portion of youths with depression did not receive treatment, and the state has issues with mental health coverage—even among privately insured families. These factors hurt California’s composite ranking .
• Flourishing Index: Lower rates of thriving kids (a key protective measure) contribute to California’s middle-of-the-pack standing.

Read more about the key findings and state rankings. You can view the report on the Mental Health America website or Download a PDF.

Source: Mental Health America | The State of Mental Health in America, https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america | © Copyright 2025 Mental Health America, Inc. Retrieved June 2025