Cities and States With the Highest STD Rates
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Sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. are at an all-time high, and places coast to coast are affected, according to government statistics.
Sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. have reached an all-time high, with more than 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis reported, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
STDs are "very common" and are passed from one person to another through vaginal, oral and anal sex, with millions of new infections occurring every year in the U.S., the CDC says.
The 10 cities with the highest STD rates per 100,000 people, according to Innerbody Research, an organization that studies and reports on home health products and services, are:
- Jackson, Mississippi—4,281
- Baltimore—3,707
- Philadelphia—3,150
- San Francisco—2,827
- Washington, D.C. (state equivalent)—2,771
- Augusta, Georgia—2,596
- New York City—2,544
- Montgomery, Alabama—2,365
- Knoxville, Tennessee—2,314
- Fayetteville, North Carolina—2,255
STDs in the States
Nationally, the CDC says from 2015 to 2019, chlamydia has gone up 19% from to 1.8 million reported cases; gonorrhea up 56% to 616,392 reported cases; syphilis up 74% to 129,813 reported cases; and congenital syphilis up 279% to 1,870 cases.
The five states with the highest reported cases per 100,000 people are:
- Chlamydia—Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and New Mexico.
- Gonorrhea—Mississippi, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina and Louisiana.
- Primary and secondary syphilis—Nevada, New Mexico, Mississippi, California and Oklahoma.
- Congenital syphilis—Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Louisiana.
Other STD Stats
In 2019, about 55% of reported STD cases were among adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 years, the CDC research shows.
Disparities also persist in rates of reported STDs among some racial minority or Hispanic groups when compared with rates among non-Hispanic whites, according to the CDC. In fact, about 30% of all cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and primary and secondary syphilis were among non-Hispanic Blacks, even though they made up only approximately 12.5% of the U.S. population.
“If you are sexually active, getting tested for STDs is one of the most important things you can do to protect your health,” the CDC said on its website.
For more information about STDs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention click here.
Andre Claudio is an assistant editor at Route Fifty.
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