The population epidemiology of AKI is not well described. Here, we analyzed data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a nationally representative dataset, to identify cases of dialysis-requiring AKI using validated International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes. From 2000 to 2009, the incidence of dialysis-requiring AKI increased from 222 to 533 cases per million person-years, averaging a 10% increase per year (incidence rate ratio=1.10, 95% CI=1.10-1.11 per year). Older age, male sex, and black race associated with higher incidence of dialysis-requiring AKI. The rapid increase in incidence was evident in all age, sex, and race subgroups examined. Temporal changes in the population distribution of age, race, and sex as well as trends of sepsis, acute heart failure, and receipt of cardiac catheterization and mechanical ventilation accounted for about one third of the observed increase in dialysis-requiring AKI among hospitalized patients. The total number of deaths associated with dialysis-requiring AKI rose from 18,000 in 2000 to nearly 39,000 in 2009. In conclusion, the incidence of dialysis-requiring AKI increased rapidly in all patient subgroups in the past decade in the United States, and the number of deaths associated with dialysis-requiring AKI more than doubled.