These States Have the Highest (and Lowest) STD Rates

Nov 23, 2019

Originally Posted On: https://www.innerbody.com/std-testing/std-statistics-by-state

Our research team dives deep into the C.D.C.’s latest 2019 STD Surveillance Statistics and provides our analysis of current trends.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) recently released its latest Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report (Oct., 2019) along with new data on the number of reported sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases across the United States. Innerbody.com’s research team analyzed and combined the latest statistics developed our annual state rankings by STD rate from highest to lowest along with key trends.

Before we get to the rankings, here are some findings and trends that we observed:

American southern states continue to dominate our state rankings with alarmingly high STD rates. In fact, 7 out of the Top 10 states are in the South.

What is going on in the South? According to Ronald Gray, MD, a professor of epidemiology at John Hopkins, the answer may simply come down to lack of access to affordable health care. “The South has more people living in poverty and in rural areas,” he says, “which may make it harder for them to get tested and treated for STDs.”

Unlike Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, Syphilis infection rates appeared to disproportionately affect western states:

State rankings by syphilis (primary and secondary) infection rate:

Nevada (22.7 cases per 100K population)
California (19.2 cases per 100K population)
Mississippi (15.5 cases per 100K population)
Georgia (15.4 cases per 100K population
Arizona (14.9 cases per 100K population)

California led all states with the largest number of cities with high STD rates with seven cities. Ohio and Texas tied for the second most cities, both of which had six each. For more information about how individual U.S. cities stack up, check out our recently published U.S. Cities STD Statistics Rankings and Research.

In terms of total STD cases, as one might expect, the largest states have the most number of reported STD cases.

State rankings by total number of STDs reported:

California (318,214 total cases reported)
Texas (196,279 total cases reported)
New York (159,487 total cases reported)
Florida (140,282 total cases reported)
Illinois (104,155 total cases reported)

Without further ado, below are our rankings of each U.S. state based on STD (highest to lowest):

Top 10 States with Highest STD Rates

Alaska

STD Cases / 100K1,144
State Population739,820
Total STD Cases8,461
Chlamydia Cases6,159
Gonorrhea Cases2,247
Syphilis Cases55

Mississippi

STD Cases / 100K1,082
State Population2,984,191
Total STD Cases32,299
Chlamydia Cases22,086
Gonorrhea Cases9,749
Syphilis Cases464

Louisiana

STD Cases / 100K1,046
State Population4,684,177
Total STD Cases49,005
Chlamydia Cases36,293
Gonorrhea Cases12,043
Syphilis Cases669

South Carolina

STD Cases / 100K957
State Population5,024,448
Total STD Cases48,095
Chlamydia Cases33,910
Gonorrhea Cases13,801
Syphilis Cases384

New Mexico

STD Cases / 100K937
State Population2,087,994
Total STD Cases19,572
Chlamydia Cases14,000
Gonorrhea Cases5,268
Syphilis Cases304

North Carolina

STD Cases / 100K889
State Population10,273,696
Total STD Cases91,376
Chlamydia Cases66,553
Gonorrhea Cases23,725
Syphilis Cases1,098

Alabama

STD Cases / 100K855
State Population4,874,357
Total STD Cases41,656
Chlamydia Cases28,437
Gonorrhea Cases12,742
Syphilis Cases477

Georgia

STD Cases / 100K848
State Population10,429,611
Total STD Cases88,410
Chlamydia Cases65,936
Gonorrhea Cases20,867
Syphilis Cases1,607

Arkansas

STD Cases / 100K841
State Population3,004,423
Total STD Cases25,251
Chlamydia Cases17,663
Gonorrhea Cases7,300
Syphilis Cases288

#10

Missouri

STD Cases / 100K828
State Population6,113,008
Total STD Cases50,624
Chlamydia Cases34,728
Gonorrhea Cases15,090
Syphilis Cases806

Top 10 States with Lowest STD Rates

Nebraska

STD Cases / 100K565
State Population1,920,096
Total STD Cases10,841
Chlamydia Cases8,026
Gonorrhea Cases2,696
Syphilis Cases119

Minnesota

STD Cases / 100K563
State Population5,577,142
Total STD Cases31,403
Chlamydia Cases23,569
Gonorrhea Cases7,542
Syphilis Cases292

New Jersey

STD Cases / 100K513
State Population9,004,686
Total STD Cases46,151
Chlamydia Cases36,514
Gonorrhea Cases9,067
Syphilis Cases570

Idaho

STD Cases / 100K452
State Population1,716,823
Total STD Cases7,752
Chlamydia Cases6,572
Gonorrhea Cases1,134
Syphilis Cases46

Utah

STD Cases / 100K439
State Population3,102,119
Total STD Cases13,605
Chlamydia Cases10,541
Gonorrhea Cases2,895
Syphilis Cases169

Wyoming

STD Cases / 100K432
State Population579,327
Total STD Cases2,503
Chlamydia Cases2,169
Gonorrhea Cases311
Syphilis Cases23

Maine

STD Cases / 100K384
State Population1,336,101
Total STD Cases5,129
Chlamydia Cases4,345
Gonorrhea Cases710
Syphilis Cases74

New Hampshire

STD Cases / 100K327
State Population1,342,682
Total STD Cases4,392
Chlamydia Cases3,734
Gonorrhea Cases594
Syphilis Cases64

Vermont

STD Cases / 100K319
State Population623,679
Total STD Cases1,991
Chlamydia Cases1,712
Gonorrhea Cases268
Syphilis Cases11

#10

West Virginia

STD Cases / 100K265
State Population1,815,843
Total STD Cases4,807
Chlamydia Cases3,599
Gonorrhea Cases1,143
Syphilis Cases65

All States Ranked by STD Rate (Highest to Lowest)

RankStateSTD Cases / 100KState PopulationTotal STD CasesChlamydia CasesGonorrhea CasesSyphilis Cases1Alaska1,144739,8208,4616,1592,247552Mississippi1,0822,984,19132,29922,0869,7494643Louisiana1,0464,684,17749,00536,29312,0436694South Carolina9575,024,44848,09533,91013,8013845New Mexico9372,087,99419,57214,0005,2683046North Carolina88910,273,69691,37666,55323,7251,0987Alabama8554,874,35741,65628,43712,7424778Georgia84810,429,61188,41065,93620,8671,6079Arkansas8413,004,42325,25117,6637,30028810Missouri8286,113,00850,62434,72815,09080611Nevada8232,997,94524,66517,5086,47568212Illinois81412,802,152104,15577,32525,4221,40813Delaware807961,9247,7596,0381,6913014California80539,537,844318,214231,41579,1927,60715New York80419,849,104159,487119,57137,2622,65416Oklahoma8013,930,94831,50321,9748,99853117Tennessee7956,715,64153,39238,21214,62755318Arizona7807,016,33454,72440,80712,8701,04719Maryland7696,051,85146,52435,48210,30573720Ohio76411,657,75489,10663,22025,14674021Indiana7126,666,53947,48634,92612,19336722South Dakota709869,7026,1624,4321,6894123Texas69428,305,641196,279146,51047,2312,53824Colorado6845,607,23938,35529,1248,89433725Michigan6829,962,97867,92950,59216,68864926Kansas6742,913,20419,63914,2315,25615227Florida66920,985,176140,282104,75832,6442,88028Virginia6558,469,34855,44342,96511,77670229North Dakota653755,4654,9353,5251,3694130Rhode Island6531,059,6766,9195,4871,3369631Hawaii6531,427,6499,3227,7351,4959232Washington6277,405,20246,45834,44911,20780233Iowa6233,145,91819,60714,6824,8398634Wisconsin6225,795,49236,06128,0277,88215235Oregon6174,143,10325,56119,2245,91342436Kentucky6124,454,62927,27619,4407,47036637Connecticut6073,588,24821,78216,7324,9599138Pennsylvania59412,805,35276,02459,34015,88779739Montana5851,050,4176,1434,9171,1814540Massachusetts5706,860,36039,08830,4608,07655241Nebraska5651,920,09610,8418,0262,69611942Minnesota5635,577,14231,40323,5697,54229243New Jersey5139,004,68646,15136,5149,06757044Idaho4521,716,8237,7526,5721,1344645Utah4393,102,11913,60510,5412,89516946Wyoming432579,3272,5032,1693112347Maine3841,336,1015,1294,3457107448New Hampshire3271,342,6824,3923,7345946449Vermont319623,6791,9911,7122681150West Virginia2651,815,8434,8073,5991,14365

How We Collected Data for This Report

All of the STD data found in this report, including case statistics for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, are from the C.D.C.’s latest data release (Aug. 2019) for the year 2018. Syphilis data includes only primary and secondary syphilis cases and does not include congenital and early latent syphilis cases. HIV cases are not reported for some cities. Statistics for other relatively common STDs, such as herpes, are not collected by the C.D.C. at this time and hence are left out of our analysis. For more information about which statistics the C.D.C. does and does not track, see its STD Data & Statistics page.

No statistical testing was used during the production of this research.

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats18/default.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/STD/
https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats17/appendix-c.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/2019/2018-STD-surveillance-report.html

Additional STD Resources

STD Information:
STD Symptoms & Causes from the Mayo Clinic
STD Guide from Planned Parenthood
STD Awareness for Teens from KidsHealth
STD Testing Resources:
Mayo Clinic: STD Testing Guide
Planned Parenthood: STD Testing
STD Testing At-Home Guide
STD Testing Resources in NYC
STD Testing Resources in Austin
Gonorrhea Testing At-Home Guide
Chlamydia Testing At-Home Guide
Syphilis Testing At-Home Guide
STD Testing Companies:
LetsGetChecked Review | MyLAB Box Review
STDcheck Review | EverlyWell Review

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