The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) recently released its latest Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report 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 City STD Rankings.

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)

According to the CDC, over 2.4 million combined STD cases are reported across the U.S. each year. STD infections can persist for an extended period of time, and most people are not aware they are infected until advanced symptoms appear. Therefore, these statistics do not include millions of people who currently have an STD, but do not even know it.

As an aside, the CDC stresses that: “If you are sexually active, getting tested for STDs is one of the most important things you can do to protect your health. Make sure to speak with your doctor about your sexual history…” If you are uncomfortable talking with your doctor, or just can’t find the time to go get tested, an increasingly popular option is to take an at-home STD test.

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

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 (covering 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

Innerbody.com is the largest online medical testing guide, helping over one million visitors each month. Over the past 20 years that we have been online, we have helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions involving staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

All of our expert writers and test reviewers have advanced degrees in relevant scientific fields. In the cases where our guides and reviews contain medical-related information, all such material is thoroughly reviewed by one or more members of Innerbody’s Medical Review Board, which consists of board-certified physicians and medical experts from across the country.

If you have any questions or feedback regarding this research or any other material on our website, you can email us at questions@innerbody.com.