Objective We estimated the economic impact of arthritis using 2013 US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data. Methods We calculated arthritis‐attributable and all‐cause medical expenditures for adults age≥ 18 years and arthritis‐attributable earnings losses among those ages 18–64 years who had ever worked. We calculated arthritis‐attributable costs using multistage regression‐based methods, and conducted sensitivity analyses to estimate costs for 2 other arthritis definitions in MEPS. Results In 2013, estimated total national arthritis‐attributable medical expenditures were 139.8billion(range 135.9–157.5billion).Acrossexpenditurecategories,ambulatorycareexpendituresaccountedfornearlyhalfofarthritis‐attributableexpenditures.All‐causeexpendituresamongadultswitharthritisrepresented50%ofthe 1.2 trillion national medical expenditures among all US adults in MEPS. Estimated total national arthritis‐attributable earning losses were 163.7billion(range 163.7–170.0billion).Thepercentagewitharthritiswhoworkedinthepastyearwas7.2percentagepointslowerthanthosewithoutarthritis(76.8%95%confidenceinterval(95%CI)75.0–78.6and84.0%95%CI82.5–85.5,respectively,adjustedforsociodemographicsandchronicconditions).Totalarthritis‐attributablemedicalexpendituresandearningslosseswere 303.5 billion (range 303.5– 326.9 billion). Conclusion Total national arthritis‐attributable medical care expenditures and earnings losses among adults with arthritis were 303.5billionin2013.Higharthritis‐attributablemedicalexpendituresmightbereducedbygreatereffortstoreducepainandimprovefunction.Thehighearningslosseswerelargelyattributabletothesubstantiallylowerprevalenceofworkingamongthosewitharthritiscomparedtothosewithout,signalingtheneedforinterventionsthatkeeppeoplewitharthritisintheworkforce.