These States Have the Highest (and Lowest) STD Rates

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:

1. Nevada (22.7 cases per 100K population)
2. California (19.2 cases per 100K population)
3. Mississippi (15.5 cases per 100K population)
4. Georgia (15.4 cases per 100K population
5. 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:

1. California (318,214 total cases reported)
2. Texas (196,279 total cases reported)
3. New York (159,487 total cases reported)
4. Florida (140,282 total cases reported)
5. Illinois (104,155 total cases reported)

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

#1

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

#2

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

#3

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

#4

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

#5

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

#6

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

#7

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

#8

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

#9

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

#10

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

#1

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

#2

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

#3

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

#4

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

#5

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

#6

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

#7

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

#8

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

#9

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

#10

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

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

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.

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

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
Finding the Best At Home STD Test
Free STD Testing NYC
Free STD Testing Austin
Gonorrhea Testing At Home Guide
Chlamydia Testing At Home Guide
Syphilis Testing At Home Guide
STD Testing Companies:
Lets Get Checked Reviews | MyLAB Box Reviews
STDcheck Reviews | Everlywell Reviews

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