OBJECTIVES: To characterize types of hospitals and patients contributing to the prevalence of ABSSSI hospital admissions and describe recent admission trends in the US.  METHODS: We conducted a retrospective database analysis of adult (≥18 years) hospital admissions with a principal ICD-9 diagnosis of ABSSSI: 681.XX, 682.XX, 686.XX, 958.3, 998.5X, or 035 using the US Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample (HCUP NIS), representing over 1,000 hospitals with >8 million hospital stays annually from 2005-2011. Descriptive and bivariate analysis was performed.  HCUP specified weights were used for national estimates.  RESULTS: From 2005-2011, there were 4,891,187 adult ABSSSI hospital admissions (2% of all HCUP NIS admissions), with admissions increasing 17.3% across this timeframe (p<0.0001). ABSSSI patients were primarily male (50.8%), white (60.3%), mean age 55.7 years (±18.6 yrs), Medicare (40.7%), and discharged to home (53.8%). Patients were of moderate severity of illness (43.5% APR-DRG II) with minor risk of mortality (60.4% APR-DRG I). Comorbidities included diabetes without complications (25.2%), COPD (17.2%), and CHF (10.3%) and increased over time (p≤0.0001). Hospitals were in urban areas (85.4%), in the South (39.0%), of large bed size (>325 beds by region, 59.1%), private (71.0%), and with non-teaching status (55.3%). Majority of admissions were other cellulitis and abscess (682.XX, 73.5%) and post-operative wound infection (998.5X, 21.5%). Post-traumatic (958.3, n=13,952) and post-operative wound (998.5X, n=1,048,916) infection incurred the greatest mean length of stay (7.2 vs 6.7 days, respectively vs 4.7 days average across ABSSSI codes). Mortality was 0.5% overall and was highest among post-operative wound infection patients (1.1%). CONCLUSIONS: More ABSSSI patients enter the US hospital system each year with a greater proportion having comorbidities. As the population continues to age, alternative settings for treating ABSSSI patients may lessen the burden on the hospital system and reduce potential risks associated with a hospital stay.