STD Rates in Oklahoma
CDC surveillance data for Oklahoma covering chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV — with 15-year trends, state comparisons, and local testing resources.
Oklahoma sits in the upper half of the country for STD burden, ranking 23rd out of 50 states with a combined rate of 669.3 per 100,000 people in 2023. What makes that number worth a second look is the direction things are moving — because after years of climbing, all three major STDs fell in 2023, and the declines weren't small.
Chlamydia is Oklahoma's most common STD by a wide margin, with more than 19,000 cases diagnosed in 2023 at a rate of 471.3 per 100,000. That puts Oklahoma exactly at the national median — not above it, not below it. It's a position the state arrived at through a long decline from a 2019 peak of 594.3, and the 2023 rate is the lowest Oklahoma has recorded since at least 2013. The trend is moving in the right direction, but the long-run picture is less clean: the rate is still about 16% higher than it was in 2008.
Gonorrhea tells a sharper story. Oklahoma's 2023 rate of 170.3 per 100,000 is still above the national median of 152.2, but it's down nearly 24% from 2022 — one of the larger single-year drops in the state's recent history. The long-run climb, though, explains why that drop matters: gonorrhea rates nearly doubled between 2008 and their 2020 peak of 283 per 100,000 before starting to ease. Syphilis offers a striking contrast. The 2023 rate of 27.7 per 100,000 is nearly double the national median of 14.8 — and while it's down from its 2022 peak of 31.8, syphilis has risen more than 1,000% since 2008. That's not a typo. The rate was 2.4 in 2008. It's 27.7 today.
HIV diagnoses in Oklahoma have been tracked through 2022, when the state recorded 396 new cases at a rate of 11.9 per 100,000 — up from 302 cases in 2017. The trend has moved mostly upward over that period, with a brief plateau in 2020 that likely reflects pandemic-era disruptions to testing rather than an actual slowdown. For anyone in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, or Norman looking to know their status, STDTest.com can help you find a nearby testing location.
STD Trends in Oklahoma
Oklahoma's chlamydia rate has been falling steadily since 2019, and 2023's rate of 471.3 per 100,000 is the lowest the state has seen in roughly a decade. That puts Oklahoma exactly at the national median — a notable shift for a state that was running well above it just a few years ago. The long-run picture is more complicated: the 2023 rate is still about 16% above 2008 levels, so the recent declines are real progress, not a return to baseline.
Oklahoma's gonorrhea rate dropped 23.7% in a single year — from 223.2 in 2022 to 170.3 in 2023 — which is one of the more significant year-over-year declines in the state's recent data. Even so, the rate still sits above the national median of 152.2, and the long-run trajectory explains why: gonorrhea rates climbed nearly 20% between 2008 and 2023, with a peak of 283 per 100,000 in 2020. The recent drop is real, but Oklahoma hasn't returned to the lower rates it saw before 2014.
Syphilis is where Oklahoma's data takes the sharpest turn. The 2023 rate of 27.7 per 100,000 is nearly double the national median of 14.8 — and it represents a rise of more than 1,000% since 2008, when the rate was just 2.4. The good news, such as it is: the rate peaked at 31.8 in 2022 and fell 12.9% in 2023, suggesting the worst of the surge may have passed. But the gap between Oklahoma and the national median on syphilis is wider than on any other STD in this dataset.
Oklahoma's HIV data runs through 2022, the most recent year available. New diagnoses rose from 302 in 2017 to 396 in 2022, a rate increase from 9.3 to 11.9 per 100,000 over that period. The numbers held relatively flat in 2020 — almost certainly a reflection of reduced testing access during the pandemic rather than a genuine decline — before resuming their upward trend in 2021 and 2022.
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Oklahoma vs National Average
Comparing 2023 rates against the U.S. median across all 50 states.
| Infection | Oklahoma | US Median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 471.3 | 471.3 | 0% below |
| Gonorrhea | 170.3 | 152.2 | 11.9% above |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 27.7 | 14.8 | 87.2% above |
What the numbers mean — and what to do about them
In 2023, more than 27,000 Oklahomans were diagnosed with chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis — roughly one new diagnosis for every 150 people in the state. That's the scale of what a combined rate of 669.3 per 100,000 actually looks like on the ground. Oklahoma sits 23rd nationally, above the midpoint, and while the 2023 numbers showed improvement across all three diseases, the state's syphilis burden remains nearly twice the national rate, and gonorrhea hasn't returned to pre-2014 levels despite last year's decline.
The trend that matters most clinically is the one that moved the least: syphilis. Unlike chlamydia and gonorrhea, which have been falling since 2019 and 2020 respectively, syphilis only began to ease in 2023 after more than a decade of nearly uninterrupted growth. Syphilis also carries the highest risk of serious complications if left untreated — and like chlamydia, it frequently produces no symptoms at all. That's what makes the combined picture worth paying attention to: the diseases most likely to go unnoticed are the ones driving Oklahoma's elevated national ranking.
If you live in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, or Norman and haven't been tested recently, the 2023 data gives you a concrete reason to change that. Oklahoma's syphilis rate alone — 27.7 per 100,000 and nearly double the national median — means the disease is more common in this state than most people assume, and most people who have it don't know. STDTest.com can show you exactly where to get tested near you today, so you're not part of the number that goes uncounted next year.
WHO SHOULD GET TESTED
Anyone sexually active in Oklahoma should consider testing, but the data points to particular urgency for adults under 30 (who account for the majority of chlamydia cases), and for anyone with multiple partners given Oklahoma's above-median gonorrhea and syphilis rates. Oklahoma's syphilis rate is nearly double the national median, which means the risk isn't limited to any one group — it's broadly elevated across the state.
HOW OFTEN
Annual testing is a reasonable floor for sexually active adults. If you have multiple partners or live in a higher-prevalence area like Oklahoma City or Tulsa, every three to six months is more appropriate — especially given that Oklahoma's gonorrhea rate, though falling, remains above the national median and syphilis infections more than doubled between 2015 and 2020 before plateauing.
WHAT TO EXPECT
STD testing is quick, confidential, and mostly painless. Depending on what you're testing for, it typically involves a urine sample, a blood draw, or a simple swab. Most results come back within a few days. Many clinics in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Norman offer walk-in appointments, and some provide results through a secure online portal so you never have to make a phone call.
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