If You Live In This Part Of The U.S. You May Be At A Lower Risk For Dementia

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 6.7 million individuals in America have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or another type of dementia. While you can't necessarily do much about some of the inherent risk factors for dementia (such as being older than 65 or having dementia in your family), you can take some steps to protect yourself against this degenerative disease. And one of those steps might surprise you: changing your address.

Research into the per-state prevalence of dementia across the United States shows that some regions have a notably lower incidence of the condition. A 2025 study in JAMA Neurology showed regional discrepancies pertaining to dementia diagnoses, based on the health records of over 1.2 million American veterans. Specifically, the mid-Atlantic area of the nation contained the lowest percentage of veterans who had developed dementia. But why would dementia rates be lower in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia than they are in the other 43 states? One reason could be related to environmental disparities that may affect residents' health.

For instance, some parts of the United States are known for being more polluted than others. In the mid-Atlantic region, pollution is generally lighter than in other regions. A 2023 study in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that exposure to fine air particulate pollution (especially from wildfires or industrial farms) seemed to increase the risk of dementia. 

(Read about the other ways air pollution can affect your health.)

Another reason could relate to how many years of formal schooling a person has had. Higher levels of education tend to correspond to lower rates of dementia, per a 2017 study in JAMA Internal Medicine. The authors hypothesized that the general act of continuous learning might have a neuroprotective effect.

According to academic expert Dr. Esther Oh, the dementia-associated benefits of education might not be the learning itself, but what was learned. Said Dr. Oh (via Johns Hopkins Medicine), "People who are more educated may be more aware that smoking, lack of exercise and not eating well are bad for their health." The mid-Atlantic cluster of states has a large percentage of people who have received an education beyond a high school degree (per the NIH).

Yet another reason for the lower dementia rate in the mid-Atlantic could be due to the fact that hearing loss can be a risk factor for dementia. A 2020 article in Neuron explained that this link may be caused by interactions between the inner ear and the places in the brain that control some cognitive processes.

(Could getting cochlear implants reduce your chances of developing dementia?)

Additional research is needed to determine why people who lose their hearing may be at greater likelihood of experiencing dementia. Interestingly, per a 2024 study in The Lancet Regional Health, four out of the top 10 states with the least hearing loss were in the mid-Atlantic region.

If you don't live anywhere near the mid-Atlantic, fret not. You can take many steps to reduce your chances of developing dementia, such as staying active, eating nutritious foods, and staying mentally fit. (You can't protect yourself from dementia completely, though.) What if you're determined to move somewhere with an incredibly low dementia rate? In that case, you'll need to head to South America. A 2022 study in Alzheimer's and Dementia revealed that two remote Amazon communities had an unusually low prevalence of dementia compared to the rest of the world.