People in DC Spend Over 5 Hours On Average In the Emergency Room 🏥

What We're Showing

The average time patients spend in the emergency department before leaving, by state.

Data comes from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and is updated as of Oct. 30, 2024.

This data reflects the average time patients spend at the emergency department, from the time they arrive to the time they leave, and excludes those who died in the emergency department, left without the approval of a licensed provider, or lacked documented discharge destinations.

Key Takeaways

• The median emergency room visit time in 2024 was 2 hours and 42 minutes.
• DC residents had the longest average emergency department visit times at 5 hours and 14 minutes.
• Rural and less populated states like North Dakota (1 hour 50 minutes), South Dakota (1 hour 53 minutes), and Nebraska (1 hour 54 minutes) had the shortest emergency room times, suggesting that lower patient loads and less crowded facilities contribute to faster processing.