The American cities with the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have been revealed.
Memphis, Tennessee, comes out as America’s STD capital where around one in 70 people were estimated to have been infected with one in 2021.
In second and third place are Jackson, Mississippi, and Columbia, South Carolina, where the rate was around one in 75 during that year.
Health research firm Innerbody drew on federal data to compile an extensive list of 100 US cities with the highest rates of STDs, including HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.
The above map shows the rate of STDs per 100,000 population in America’s metropolitan areas
Southern cities were disproportionately represented in the roundup, which looked at metropolitan areas in the US.
And most of the top-scoring cities were located in states that spend less than the national average on healthcare for their citizens.
States that are among the lowest in healthcare spending per capita — Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina — account for the three highest STD rates.
Southern cities account for 14 of the top 25 with the highest concentrations of STD cases.
And Florida was well-represented with three of the top 25 cities located there – Jacksonville, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale – which is actually an improvement from the previous year when the Sunshine State accounted for four of them.
Fifteen cities had STD rates higher than 1,000 infectious per 100,000 people: Memphis, TN, Jackson, MS, Columbia, SC, Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA, New Orleans, LA, Milwaukee, WI, Little Rock, AR, Washington, DC, Norfolk, VA, Cleveland, OH, Greensboro, NC, Charlotte, NC, Charleston, SC, San Francisco, CA.
Broken down, Memphis’ total of over 1,400 STDs per 100,000 population were five HIV cases, 4,772 gonorrhea cases, 9,681 chlamydia cases, and 605 syphilis cases.
HIV took up a larger share of Jackson’s STDs per 100,000 people with 105 cases. Columbia recorded 1,350 STDs per 100,000 people.
By comparison, states that spent the most on healthcare typically had lower STD rates. The health expenditure argument was not perfect, though.
For instance, while the District of Columbia has the highest healthcare spending per capita at $14,381 — more than $4,000 above the national average.
The city nonetheless ranks 9th worst for STD infection rates in our city-focused study.
The lowest scorer at 100th place was Monmouth, New Jersey, with 239 STD cases per 100,000 people.
In 99th place was Provo, Utah with 265 STDs per 100,000 people.
In 98th place was Middlesex, New Jersey (278 per capita). Right above that is Santa Cruz, California with 378 cases per capita.
Total cases of STDs — chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — have been trending upwards for the previous seven years in a row. Infections fell in 2020 with 2.4million recorded compared to the previous year, but CDC officials said it was likely that cases had in fact continued to rise but this was not detected due to a drop in testing
Public health experts have been eyeing a steady increase in STD rates for years, a trend that worsened during the pandemic when the bulk of diagnostic testing shifted to focus exclusively on Covid.
With fewer testing resources, more people went undetected, potentially spreading infection to sexual partners.
Worst of the Worst: Ten cities with the highest STD rates
Memphis, TN: 1,460 STDs per 100,000Jackson, MS: 1,358 STDs per 100,000Columbia, SC: 1,350 STDs per 100,000 Baltimore, MD: 1,327 STDs per 100,000 Philadelphia, PA: 1,200 STDs per 100,000 New Orleans, LA: 1,145 STDs per 100,000Milwaukee, WI: 1,142 STDs per 100,000 Little Rock, AR: 1,126 STDs per 100,000Washington, DC: 1,081 STDs per 100,000Norfolk, VA: 1,069 STDs per 100,000
While STD cases initially declined during first months of the pandemic, they resurged by the end of 2020.
Scientists have since found that gonorrhea and syphilis cases surged to a 30-year high in the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic in spite of sweeping lockdowns.
Total cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) hit 2.5 million in 2021, up from 2.4 million in 2020.
There were several notable shifts for the better and worse in the rankings. Norfolk, Virginia (1,069 per 100,000), which was at 29, has moved up to number 10.
Memphis shot to the top spot all the way from 12 while Little Rock, Arkansas (1,126 per 100,000) rose 11 spots from 19 to eight.
Jackson, Mississippi, moved from first to second place, followed by Columbia, South Carolina, which rose 15 spots from the previous year.
On the other hand, Atlanta, Georgia (811 per 100,000) improved significantly, moving from spot 22 to 42. New York, with 910 cases per 100,000 people, fell from seven to spot 26.
Denver, Colorado improved 19 spots from 32 to 51 while Cincinnati, Ohio improved 16 spots from 30 to 46th in the ranking, and San Fransisco improved from third to 15th.
The data, which came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also highlighted stark racial inequities, proving that the STD burden is not equal.
Minority racial and ethnic groups have consistently been hit the hardest, not because they are predisposed to certain illnesses but because of wealth and the conditions in the environments where they are born, live, and work, factors known as social determinants of health.
Innerbody found that although non-hispanic black people make up approximately 12 percent of the total US population, they account for a disproportionate 32 percent of chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea infections.
People who cannot afford healthcare or are uninsured are less likely to be tested regularly for STDs or have access to sexual healthcare services.
Many racial and ethnic minorities may also distrust the healthcare system, which has historically proven discriminatory, often resulting in substandard care. This could create negative feelings around getting tested and treated for STDs.
The onset of the Covid pandemic worsened an already-lackluster STD surveillance system across states.
In 2020, diagnostic testing and a slim workforce able to carry it out were shifted to focus primarily on Covid detection.
Due to reduced access to care during the pandemic, many people are believed to have foregone check-ups and preventative care, harboring their infections undetected for longer, providing more opportunities to transmit the infection to their sexual partners.
Drug use is also believed to have played a role.
Drugs are often linked to risky sexual behavior, and using IV drugs greatly increases one’s risk of becoming infected with HIV.
It is also believed that, absent being able to partake in normal life activities such as going to parties and other fun social gatherings, sexual activity increased during the pandemic.
In 2021, the rate of syphilis in the U.S. surpassed 51 cases per 100,000 people, the highest rate since 1990 and the greatest number of overall cases (171,074) since 1951.
Cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea also increased significantly between 2020 and 2021, though not nearly as steep as those for syphilis.
AMERICA’S 100 WORST-HIT CITIES FOR STDs Rank (Worst to best) State STD cases per 100k HIV cases Chlamydia cases Gonorrhea cases Syphilis cases 1 Memphis, TN 1,460 5 9,681 4,772 605 2 Jackson, MS 1,358 105 6,144 3,587 607 3 Columbia, SC 1,350 48 8,068 3,700 275 4 Baltimore, MD 1,327 642 16,014 6,815 963 5 Philadelphia, PA 1,200 552 28,827 11,824 1,616 6 New Orleans, LA 1,145 245 9,400 4,449 454 7 Milwaukee, WI 1,142 103 11,841 5,623 400 8 Little Rock, AR 1,126 17 4,553 2,420 291 9 Washington, DC 1,081 473 22,829 6,136 1,085 10 Norfolk, VA 1,069 168 10,382 4,451 281 11 Cleveland, OH 1,038 213 13,849 8,250 344 12 Greensboro, NC 1,013 160 10,175 4,869 340 13 Charlotte, NC 1,012 246 15,784 6,778 771 14 Charleston, SC 1,011 138 6,022 2,731 317 15 San Francisco, CA 1,002 14 8,362 5,108 1,487 16 Jacksonville, FL 997 267 11,667 5,376 511 17 Miami, FL 987 781 12,521 5,180 2,166 18 St. Louis, MO 957 104 14,846 8,306 627 19 Fort Lauderdale, FL 950 460 10,185 4,516 1,381 20 Indianapolis, IN 950 196 13,021 5,746 618 21 Oklahoma City, OK 944 183 8,098 4,558 495 22 Richmond, VA 936 114 7,910 3,455 376 23 Rochester, NY 923 66 6,839 4,620 342 24 Tulsa, OK 918 138 5,256 3,033 423 25 Greenville, SC 914 92 7,122 3,782 410 26 New York, NY 910 1,083 60,776 26,388 6,521 27 Columbus, GA 906 305 13,348 6,465 627 28 Des Moines, IA 891 37 3,813 2,199 151 29 Phoenix, AZ 880 506 27,336 12,969 2,011 30 Mobile, AL 878 85 3,808 1,657 135 31 Tacoma, WA 871 57 5,598 2,208 175 32 Birmingham, AL 869 138 6,972 3,877 252 33 Los Angeles, CA 860 1,382 53,032 26,021 5,450 34 Albuquerque, NM 859 57 4,982 2,350 361 35 Bakersfield, CA 858 160 5,311 1,986 348 36 Dayton, OH 851 53 4,768 3,057 197 37 San Antonio, TX 834 297 13,105 5,615 1,013 38 Akron, OH 833 5 3,686 2,057 96 39 Nashville, TN 828 135 9,753 4,451 410 40 Omaha, NE 823 42 5,076 2,327 113 41 Chicago, IL 822 868 47,885 20,524 2,316 42 Atlanta, GA 811 1,307 32,004 12,118 2,551 43 Buffalo, NY 808 91 5,688 3,516 120 44 Detroit, MI 807 115 21,729 12,335 898 45 Fresno, CA 805 128 6,272 2,657 323 46 Cincinnati, OH 793 175 9,251 4,876 204 47 Colorado Springs, CO 784 40 4,164 1,446 87 48 San Diego, CA 779 153 18,299 6,117 1,126 49 Austin, TX 767 32 11,487 5,307 809 51 Denver, CO 758 221 14,295 6,171 807 50 Dallas, TX 758 831 25,034 12,177 1,616 52 Raleigh, NC 754 70 10,051 4,174 577 53 Orlando, FL 750 452 13,863 4,825 932 54 Tucson, AZ 732 88 5,285 1,921 359 55 Gary, IN 728 54 3,334 1,443 61 56 Las Vegas, NV 723 352 11,824 5,145 1,038 57 Grand Rapids, MI 712 38 5,805 2,946 121 58 Houston, TX 708 1,027 29,166 12,751 2,234 59 Tampa, FL 694 443 14,548 6,043 1,046 60 Stockton, CA 692 0 3,626 1,447 327 61 Riverside, CA 686 296 21,363 8,210 1,708 62 Honolulu, HI 677 37 5,392 1,187 246 63 El Paso, TX 670 109 4,390 1,180 123 64 Syracuse, NY 663 24 3,251 1,576 34 65 Minneapolis, MN 657 152 15,277 7,914 561 66 Sacramento, CA 650 25 8,598 4,853 704 67 New Haven, CT 647 47 3,766 1,636 140 68 Oakland, CA 642 229 11,775 5,565 698 69 Albany, NY 616 18 3,784 1,883 154 70 Kansas City, KS 611 52 6,359 2,213 264 71 Knoxville, TN 609 37 3,637 1,520 83 72 Portland, OR 606 104 9,967 4,385 714 73 Newark, NJ 596 231 9,112 3,238 517 74 Boise City, ID 592 17 3,354 893 64 75 Wilmington, NC 582 91 4,473 1,305 180 76 Fort Worth, TX 568 19 9,253 4,379 592 77 Salt Lake City, UT 552 8 7,346 2,486 160 78 Seattle, WA 549 198 11,331 5,201 772 79 Easton, PA 540 34 2,772 825 81 80 Harrisburg, PA 539 40 2,941 883 102 81 Providence, RI 538 7 4,341 1,371 184 82 Jersey City, NJ 534 123 2,760 749 226 83 West Palm Beach, FL 525 213 5,712 1,599 317 84 Orange County, CA 525 264 10,966 4,580 901 85 Pittsburgh, PA 518 87 8,547 2,933 346 86 Ventura, CA 490 0 3,149 836 146 87 Daytona Beach, FL 480 10 2,109 939 165 88 Boston, MA 459 215 21,341 6,078 1,021 89 Hartford, CT 452 66 5,837 1,918 227 90 McAllen, TX 448 58 3,121 619 106 91 Ann Arbor, MI 445 0 2,104 800 54 92 Danbury, CT 409 52 2,836 905 112 93 Scranton, PA 404 28 2,056 430 37 94 Bergen, NJ 401 100 4,354 1,267 207 95 Nassau, NY 389 68 8,970 1,993 327 96 San Jose, CA 379 8 4,441 2,279 586 97 Santa Cruz, CA 378 0 752 213 57 98 Middlesex, NJ 278 52 2,890 635 135 99 Provo, UT 265 0 1,407 328 22 100 Monmouth, NJ 239 35 2,414 507 103
Discovered on: 2023-03-25 11:40:35
Source: Map reveals US cities with highest STD rates
