Numbers released today by the Alzheimer’s Association show every county in North Carolina having a rate of Alzheimer’s and dementia at 8.9 percent of the population or higher.
Every county in eastern North Carolina meets or tops that percentage; the highest include Bertie County at 16.6 percent; Lenoir County at 14 percent, and Duplin at 13.4 percent.
There are about 180,000 people in the state living with dementia.
This is the first-time data on Alzheimer’s prevalence is available on a county-level and experts said the information will help public health officials better allocate funding and other resources to help families that are impacted by the disease.
The data, released at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, found the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s in the east and southeastern regions of the U-S, which may be explained by higher percentages of older people and Black and Hispanic residents in those regions.
Percentage of Alzheimer’s and dementia in Eastern North Carolina Counties:
Beaufort 11.8%
Bertie 16.6%
Carteret 10.1%
Craven 11.8%
Dare 8.9%
Duplin 13.4%
Edgecombe 15.0%
Greene 12.9%
Guilford 12.6%
Hyde 12.4%
Lenoir 14%
Jones 13.2%
Nash 12.8%
Onslow 11.3%
Pamlico 11.6%
Pitt 12.9%
Tyrell 15.1%
Washington 14.0%
