Between 2001 and 2020, the number of new cases of colorectal cancer in adults aged 20 to 54 rose in every region of the United States, with the fastest increase in the West and the slowest in the South, showing that different areas experienced different rates of growth in this disease.

From 2001 to 2020, early-onset colorectal cancer was most common in the southern U.S., but its numbers grew slowly there; in the western U.S., it started less common but increased faster, showing different patterns of growth between the two regions.

From 2001 to 2020, colorectal cancer became more common in younger adults in every part of the U.S., and men were diagnosed at higher rates than women, with their rates rising faster over time.

Between the early 1990s and 2018, the number of new colorectal cancer cases in people under 50 in the U.S. rose by nearly 50%, from 8.6 to 12.9 cases per 100,000 people, and similar increases have been seen in other countries, suggesting a growing trend not explained by older populations.

Between 1990 and 2021, the number of new cases of colorectal cancer in people under age 45 in the United States rose by 34%, from 32.9 to 43.9 cases per 100,000 people.

Since 2013, the number of new colorectal cancer cases per year has risen by 3% each year among U.S. adults aged 20 to 49, while cases have decreased in older adults.