Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States by a wide margin. Each year, roughly 6.1 million American adults are treated for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas alone, and that figure doesn’t include melanoma or other rarer types. No other cancer comes close in sheer volume of diagnoses.
The Three Main Types and Their Numbers
Skin cancer falls into three broad categories, and their frequency varies enormously. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common by far, followed by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Together, these two types account for the vast majority of cases. They grow slowly, rarely spread to other parts of the body, and are almost always curable when caught early. Because they’re so routine, central cancer registries in the U.S. don’t even track them the way they track other cancers. The 6.1 million annual treatment figure comes from medical expenditure surveys rather than traditional cancer databases.
Melanoma is far less common but far more dangerous. About 2.2 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma at some point in their lifetime. While that sounds like a small number, it translates to roughly 1 in 45 people over a full lifespan.
How Survival Depends on Stage
For melanoma, timing is everything. When caught at stage I or II, meaning the cancer is still confined to the original site, the five-year survival rate is 97.6 percent. That drops sharply once the cancer reaches nearby lymph nodes (stage III), where five-year survival falls to 60.3 percent. If melanoma spreads to distant organs (stage IV), the rate drops to 16.2 percent.
These numbers underscore why early detection matters so much. A melanoma found during a routine skin check is a very different diagnosis from one discovered after it has spread.
Age, Sex, and Who Gets It Most
Melanoma doesn’t affect men and women equally, and the pattern flips with age. Among younger adults in their twenties, women are diagnosed about twice as often as men, making up nearly 69 percent of cases in that age group. This gap narrows through the thirties and forties, and by the fifties, men begin to outnumber women significantly. By ages 60 to 79, men account for roughly two-thirds of all melanoma diagnoses.
The reasons for this crossover aren’t fully settled, but indoor tanning likely plays a role in the higher rates among younger women, while cumulative sun exposure over decades drives the steep climb in older men. Overall, your risk of melanoma increases with every decade of life, with the highest raw numbers appearing in people over 60.
Skin Color and Risk Differences
Skin cancer rates differ dramatically across racial and ethnic groups. White populations develop BCC at 26 to 27 times the rate of Black and Asian populations. For squamous cell carcinoma, the gap is about 13 to 14 times higher. For melanoma, it’s roughly 16 to 33 times higher.
That doesn’t mean skin cancer is impossible in people with darker skin. It still occurs, and when it does, it tends to be caught later. A large study in England found that only 53.5 percent of Asian patients and 62.4 percent of Black patients had melanoma diagnosed at an early stage, compared to 79.8 percent of White patients. Part of this delay comes from the referral process: Asian and Black patients were significantly less likely to be referred through urgent cancer pathways. But part of it also comes from a dangerous misconception that darker skin offers complete protection, which it does not.
One specific type of melanoma, acral lentiginous melanoma, appears on the palms, soles, and under fingernails. It actually occurs at the highest rate in Black populations. This is the same type of melanoma that killed Bob Marley, and it’s easily overlooked because people don’t think to check those areas.
Where Skin Cancer Is Most Common Globally
Australia has the highest skin cancer rate in the world, with an age-standardized rate of 37.0 per 100,000 people. For men specifically, Australia’s rate climbs to 45.9 per 100,000. The combination of a predominantly fair-skinned population, intense UV radiation, and an outdoor culture makes it an extreme case.
The rest of the top five may surprise you. Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden all rank among the highest globally. Nordic countries appear on the list partly because of tanning culture and sun-seeking behavior during vacations, and partly because lighter skin types are more vulnerable to UV damage even at moderate exposure levels. Denmark actually leads the world in melanoma rates among women, at 35.6 per 100,000.
Why the Numbers Keep Climbing
Skin cancer has been increasing steadily for decades. Several factors are driving this trend. The popularity of tanning beds through the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s exposed a generation to concentrated UV radiation, and those effects are still showing up in diagnoses today. Meanwhile, the aging population means more people are living long enough to develop cancers triggered by cumulative sun exposure from earlier in life.
Better detection also plays a role. Dermatologists are screening more aggressively, and public awareness campaigns have prompted more people to get suspicious spots checked. This catches cancers that might have gone unnoticed in previous decades, which inflates the numbers even as it saves lives.
The Financial Toll
Beyond the health impact, skin cancer carries a significant economic cost. Treatment for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas alone runs about $8.9 billion annually in the United States. That figure covers office visits, biopsies, surgical removals, and follow-up care for millions of patients each year. Because these cancers are so common and often require multiple treatments over a lifetime (having one BCC raises your odds of developing another), the cumulative expense is substantial both for the healthcare system and for individuals managing copays and time off work.