Kidney and renal pelvis cancer was estimated to account for 80,450 new U.S. cases in 2026 and 15,160 deaths. Diagnosis statistics also show why stage matters: 66% of cases were diagnosed while localized, when the 5-year relative survival was 93.6%, compared with 20.3% for distant disease. These figures come from the SEER Cancer Stat Facts estimates and historical U.S. rates identified below.
On this page
- How common kidney cancer is
- Incidence and death rates
- Stage at diagnosis and survival
- Age at diagnosis
- Differences by sex, race, and ethnicity
- Recent U.S. trends
- What the national data measure
How common kidney cancer is
The SEER Cancer Stat Facts estimate 80,450 new cases of kidney and renal pelvis cancer in the United States in 2026. On the same estimate, the disease was expected to cause 15,160 U.S. deaths during 2026. The 80,450-case estimate placed kidney and renal pelvis cancer seventh among cancers by estimated number of new cases and represented 3.8% of all new U.S. cancer cases.
The category used in these statistics is “kidney and renal pelvis cancer.” It is therefore broader than a count limited to one kidney tumor subtype or one diagnostic setting. When comparing numbers, it is important to check whether a source uses this same category.
SEER Cancer Stat Facts also identified kidney and renal pelvis cancer as the 12th leading cause of cancer death in the United States. A projected count of new diagnoses and a projected count of deaths describe the expected national burden for a calendar year; they are not a record of every diagnosis already confirmed in 2026.
Incidence and death rates
An incidence rate describes new diagnoses in a population, while a death rate describes deaths attributed to the cancer. The SEER Cancer Stat Facts age-adjusted incidence rate for kidney and renal pelvis cancer was 18.0 per 100,000 men and women per year during 2019–2023. The age-adjusted death rate was 3.4 per 100,000 men and women per year during 2020–2024.
Age adjustment makes rates from populations with different age structures easier to compare. It does not mean that an individual’s personal probability of receiving a diagnosis or dying from kidney cancer is exactly the displayed rate.
Sex-specific figures show a higher reported incidence rate for men than women. Across all races, the male incidence rate was 24.4 per 100,000, while the female incidence rate was 12.3 per 100,000. The corresponding death rates were 5.0 per 100,000 for men and 2.1 per 100,000 for women.
| Measure | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Incidence, all races | 24.4 per 100,000 | 12.3 per 100,000 |
| Death rate | 5.0 per 100,000 | 2.1 per 100,000 |
These are population rates, not diagnostic test results. A person’s evaluation depends on symptoms, imaging, laboratory findings, medical history, and clinical judgment.
Stage at diagnosis and survival
Stage at diagnosis is one of the clearest ways to interpret kidney cancer statistics. In the SEER Cancer Stat Facts distribution, 66% of kidney and renal pelvis cancers were diagnosed at a localized stage, 17% at a regional stage, 15% at a distant stage, and 3% at an unknown stage. Percentages can be rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.
The same source reported a 5-year relative survival of 79.2% for kidney and renal pelvis cancer overall. Relative survival compares people with cancer with similar people in the general population; it is not the same as a guarantee about an individual outcome. The figures are historical survival statistics and do not predict exactly what will happen to a newly diagnosed person.
| Stage at diagnosis | Share of diagnoses | 5-year relative survival |
|---|---|---|
| Localized | 66% | 93.6% |
| Regional | 17% | 77.6% |
| Distant | 15% | 20.3% |
| Unknown stage | 3% | 55.2% |
Localized disease means the cancer had not spread beyond the kidney or renal pelvis in the staging category used by the source. Regional disease had spread to nearby structures or lymph nodes, while distant disease had spread to distant parts of the body. The unknown-stage group contains cases for which the available information did not establish a stage in the reported classification.
The contrast between the stage groups is descriptive, not a calculation of an individual’s prognosis. Treatment, tumor characteristics, overall health, age, response to treatment, and other clinical factors can affect outcomes. Still, the figures show why the stage found during diagnosis is central when clinicians discuss treatment and outlook.
Age at diagnosis
The median age at diagnosis was 65 years in the SEER Cancer Stat Facts data. Kidney and renal pelvis cancer was most frequently diagnosed among people aged 65–74, a group that accounted for 30.2% of new cases.
The reported distribution of new cases by age was:
- Ages 55–64: 25.4%
- Ages 75–84: 17.2%
- Ages 45–54: 13.7%
- Older than 84: 5.1%
- Ages 35–44: 5.8%
- Ages 20–34: 1.7%
- Under age 20: 0.8%
Together with the 30.2% share for ages 65–74, these figures describe how new diagnoses were distributed across age groups in the source’s reporting system. They do not establish that age alone caused a diagnosis, and they should not be used to rule kidney cancer in or out for a particular person.
The median is the midpoint of the age distribution: half of the people in the reported diagnosis group were younger than the median age and half were older. It is different from the age group with the largest share. Here, the median was 65 years, while the largest named age group was 65–74.
Differences by sex, race, and ethnicity
Incidence rates varied across the sex and race or ethnicity categories reported by SEER Cancer Stat Facts. Among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people, the male incidence rate was 37.4 per 100,000 and the female incidence rate was 20.0 per 100,000. Among non-Hispanic Black people, the corresponding rates were 26.8 and 13.3 per 100,000.
Among Hispanic people, the male incidence rate was 25.5 per 100,000 and the female rate was 14.9 per 100,000. Among non-Hispanic White people, the male rate was 25.1 per 100,000 and the female rate was 12.0 per 100,000. Among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander people, the male rate was 12.7 per 100,000 and the female rate was 5.9 per 100,000.
| Reported group | Male incidence | Female incidence |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native | 37.4 | 20.0 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 26.8 | 13.3 |
| Hispanic | 25.5 | 14.9 |
| Non-Hispanic White | 25.1 | 12.0 |
| Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander | 12.7 | 5.9 |
All rates in this table are per 100,000. The categories are the labels used by the source and should not be treated as interchangeable with biological identity, ancestry, or an explanation for why rates differ.
Death-rate differences were also reported. Among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native people, the male death rate was 9.2 per 100,000 and the female death rate was 3.8 per 100,000. Among non-Hispanic White people, the rates were 5.3 for men and 2.2 for women. Among non-Hispanic Black people, the rates were 4.9 for men and 2.1 for women.
Population rates can reflect several influences, including age structure, access to care, diagnosis patterns, treatment, risk factors, and data coverage. The supplied SEER figures report the differences but do not by themselves establish the cause of those differences.
Recent U.S. trends
SEER Cancer Stat Facts reported that new incidence rates rose by an average of 0.7% per year during 2014–2023. Over a different period, death rates fell by an average of 1.1% per year during 2015–2024.
The two trend measures use different time windows and different outcomes. The incidence trend concerns the rate of new diagnoses; the death trend concerns the rate of deaths. Therefore, the figures should not be combined into one overall change or interpreted as a forecast for a specific future year.
The trend statistics are also averages across the stated periods. An average annual change does not mean that the rate moved by exactly the same percentage every year. It summarizes the direction and pace reported for the full interval.
What the national data measure
The CDC U.S. Cancer Statistics About the Database reports that its public-use data cover all 50 states and the District of Columbia since 2001. The same source says the data provide information on more than 39 million cancer cases. For 2001–2022, the incidence data covered approximately 99.9% of the U.S. population.
Those coverage details help explain why national cancer statistics can support comparisons across years and population groups. They do not mean that every measure has the same publication year, reference period, or definition. The diagnosis, death, survival, and trend figures above retain their own periods as reported by SEER Cancer Stat Facts.
State Cancer Profiles reports kidney and renal pelvis incidence as an age-adjusted rate per 100,000. Its incidence table also includes CI*Rank and recent 5-year trend metrics. A state-level rate may be useful for understanding local patterns, but it should be compared with other rates only when the measurement period, adjustment method, cancer category, and population coverage are aligned.
For a person concerned about a possible diagnosis, population statistics cannot determine whether a particular symptom or scan represents cancer. They are descriptive measures for groups. The clinically relevant next step is an evaluation by a qualified health professional who can interpret the person’s history and test results.