OBJECTIVES:  To examine the economic burden and health care utilization of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the US Department of Defense (DoD) population. METHODS:  Patients diagnosed with RA (International Classification of Diseases, 9^th Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis code: 714) were identified using DoD data from 01OCT2010-31OCT2015. The first diagnosis date was designated as the index date. A comparison cohort was created for patients without RA, but of the same age, gender, race, index year, and with similar baseline Charlson Comorbidity Index scores. The index date was chosen randomly for the comparison cohort to minimize selection bias. Patients in both cohorts were required to have continuous medical and pharmacy benefits for 1 year pre- and 1 year post-index date. Study outcomes, including health care costs and utilization, were compared between the disease and comparison cohorts using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM), and adjusted for baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS:  Eligible RA and non-RA patients (N=32,512) were included for study. After 1:1 PSM matching, 14,223 patients were identified in each cohort; the baseline characteristics were well balanced. Patients with RA had a greater mean number of inpatient (0.27 vs 0.12; p<0.001), emergency room (ER) (0.81 vs 0.45; p<0.001), ambulatory (26.69 vs 14.11; p<0.001) and pharmacy (21.55 vs 11.7; p<0.001) visits. Higher all-cause health care costs were also observed for RA patients, including mean inpatient ($3,278 vs $1,398; p<0.001), ER ($535 vs $291; p<0.001), ambulatory ($7,685 vs $3,978; p<0.001), pharmacy ($3,495 vs $1,142; p=0.4138), and total costs ($14,992 vs $6,808; all p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: During a 12-month period, DoD beneficiaries who were diagnosed with RA had higher health care utilization and incurred higher costs than matched control patients.