Background: The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in young adults is increasing. Minority populations with CRC are known to have worse outcome. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of race on the outcome of young adults with CRC. Methods: Data were obtained from all US hospitals that contributed to the National Cancer Database (NCDB) between 2004 and 2013. Univariate and multivariate testing was done to identify factors associated with patient outcome. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used for association between patient characteristics and survival. Results: A total of 83,449 patients between 18 and 50 years of age were identified. The mean age was 43.6 years (SD±6), with a male preponderance (53.9%). About 72% were non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) while African Americans (AA) made up 15.1%. Distribution across stages I-IV was 15.6%, 22.4%, 33.9% and 27% consecutively, similar among the races. 41.8% of NHW and 28.4% of AA had rectal cancers (p<0.001). Despite equally receiving standard of care (SOC) as per NCCN guidelines, AA had significantly lower 5year survival rates (58.8%) compared to Hispanics (64.8%) and NHW (66.9%; HR 1.42; 1.38-1.46; p<0.001). Patients with colon cancer had worse outcome compared to rectal cancer (HR 1.21; 1.18-1.24; P<0.001). In terms of survival, NHW (HR 0.85; 0.81-0.88; p<0.001) and Hispanics (HR 0.75; 0.70-0.79; p<0.001) were more likely to benefit from chemotherapy compared to AA. As expected, SOC utilization was associated with improved survival across all racial groups, especially in AA with HR of 0.64 (0.60 – 0.69; p<0.001). Conclusions: Despite comparable rates of standard of care utilization, AA young adults with CRC had worse outcomes compared to other races. Colon cancer was significantly more common in AA than rectal cancers, which may have contributed to their worse outcomes.