The cost of data breaches in the United States climbed to an all time high in 2025, even as the global average declined, according to figures compiled by StationX from industry breach research. The US average reached 10.22 million dollars per breach, about 2.3 times the global average of 4.44 million dollars, which itself fell 9 percent, its first decline in five years. The United States also recorded 3,322 breaches, a record total.

Falling average cost paired with a rising number of incidents means aggregate economic damage likely reached new highs. Artificial intelligence has become a notable factor. Research found that 13 percent of organizations reported a breach of an AI model or application, and among those, 97 percent lacked proper AI access controls. A majority of organizations reported having no complete AI governance policy in place.

The data also shows a mitigating role for automation. Organizations that deployed extensive AI and automation in security paid about 3.62 million dollars per breach, compared with 5.52 million dollars for those without, a reduction of roughly 34 percent. The figures capture a paradox in enterprise security. AI expands the attack surface and introduces new failure modes when governance lags, while AI powered defenses can lower the cost of the breaches that do occur.

Source: StationX - https://app.stationx.net/articles/data-breach-statistics