STD Rates in West Virginia
CDC surveillance data for West Virginia covering chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV — with 15-year trends and national comparisons.
West Virginia ranks 47th out of 50 states for combined STD burden — meaning nearly every state has higher rates. The combined rate of 314.6 cases per 100,000 people sits well below the national median. But that headline obscures something worth paying attention to: syphilis in West Virginia has risen more than 1,400% since 2008, a trajectory that no single good ranking can explain away.
Chlamydia tells a more stable story — at least recently. The 2023 rate of 249 cases per 100,000 is nearly half the national median of 471.3, and after peaking around 313 in 2019, it has been easing back down. Year over year, it dropped less than 1%, which is essentially flat. The long-run picture is less tidy: since 2009, the rate has climbed about 36%. West Virginia never became a high-chlamydia state, but it moved meaningfully in that direction over 15 years before leveling off.
Gonorrhea is where the recent numbers offer the most notable shift. After surging from 26.1 per 100,000 in 2009 to a peak of 99.2 in 2020, the rate has been falling for three straight years — dropping 22.8% between 2022 and 2023 alone, landing at 54.7. That's still well below the national median of 152.2, and the downward momentum is real. Syphilis moved in the same direction last year, down 11.4% to 10.9 per 100,000, putting it just under the national median of 14.8. Both declines are worth watching, but syphilis has climbed so sharply over the past decade that a single year of retreat doesn't erase the longer arc.
HIV data through 2022 shows new diagnoses rising from 78 cases in 2017 to a peak of 152 in 2019, then settling into the 136–151 range in subsequent years. The 2020 dip to 139 likely reflects pandemic-related disruptions to testing access rather than a real change in transmission. If you live in Charleston, Huntington, or Morgantown, STDTest.com can help you find a testing location nearby — because the gap between actual infections and reported cases depends almost entirely on who gets tested.
STD Trends in West Virginia
West Virginia's chlamydia rate has plateaued near 249 per 100,000 after peaking at 313 in 2019 — a sign of stabilization, though not a return to the lower rates seen before 2015. At roughly half the national median of 471.3, the state remains well below average, but the 36% long-run increase since 2009 shows that the baseline shifted considerably over time. The current flatness could reflect genuine slowing, or it could reflect testing gaps that keep diagnoses artificially low.
Gonorrhea in West Virginia has pulled back sharply from its 2020 peak of 99.2 per 100,000, falling to 54.7 in 2023 — a 22.8% drop in a single year. Even at its peak, the rate stayed well below the national median of 152.2, and the current rate is less than half that benchmark. The long-run rise since 2009 — up about 110% from a low of 26.1 — is worth noting, even as the recent decline suggests the wave may have crested.
Syphilis is the sharpest long-run story in West Virginia's STD data. The rate sat at just 0.7 per 100,000 in 2008; by 2022 it had reached 12.3 — an increase of more than 1,400%. The 2023 rate of 10.9 represents an 11.4% decline year over year, and it now sits just below the national median of 14.8. Whether that decline holds or reverses will define much of how West Virginia's STD picture looks over the next few years.
West Virginia's HIV diagnosis rate climbed from 5.0 per 100,000 in 2017 to 9.9 in 2019, then held in a similar range through 2022, when it stood at 8.9. The data only runs through 2022, so more recent trends aren't yet captured in surveillance figures. The modest dip in 2020 — 9.0, down from 9.9 — almost certainly reflects reduced testing access during the pandemic rather than a true decline in new infections.
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West Virginia vs National Average
Comparing 2023 rates against the U.S. median across all 50 states.
| Infection | West Virginia | US Median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 249 | 471.3 | 47.2% below |
| Gonorrhea | 54.7 | 152.2 | 64.1% below |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 10.9 | 14.8 | 26.4% below |
What the numbers mean — and what to do about them
With a combined STD rate of 314.6 per 100,000, West Virginia recorded roughly 5,568 total diagnoses of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in 2023. That puts the state near the bottom of the national distribution — 47th out of 50 — and well below the combined national median. For a state of about 1.77 million people, the raw case counts are relatively modest. But rates measure only what gets diagnosed, and diagnosis requires testing.
The trend that warrants the closest attention is syphilis. Unlike chlamydia and gonorrhea, which have plateaued or pulled back in recent years, syphilis spent more than a decade climbing — from near-zero in the early 2000s to double-digit rates by 2021. Even with a small decline in 2023, the rate is close to the national median for the first time in recent history. Syphilis is also particularly dangerous when undetected: early infection often produces mild or no symptoms, and untreated syphilis can cause serious long-term complications. The same invisibility applies to chlamydia and gonorrhea, where most people have no symptoms at all — meaning the official case counts are almost certainly undercounts of actual infections.
If you live in Charleston, Huntington, or Morgantown, testing is accessible and straightforward — most clinics handle a full STD panel in a single visit, with results in a few days. West Virginia's overall rates are low by national standards, but syphilis has risen more than 1,400% here since 2008 without most people noticing. STDTest.com can show you where to get tested today.
WHO SHOULD GET TESTED
Any sexually active adult in West Virginia should consider routine testing, particularly for syphilis — a disease that has surged in the state over the past 15 years and now sits near the national median. People with multiple partners, those who have had unprotected sex, and anyone who shares injection equipment face elevated risk, especially given West Virginia's well-documented overlap between drug use networks and STD transmission.
HOW OFTEN
Once a year is a reasonable baseline for most sexually active adults. Given that West Virginia's syphilis rate climbed steadily for over a decade before recently leveling off, anyone with new or multiple partners should consider testing every three to six months. Gonorrhea has declined recently but still sits higher than it did a decade ago — so annual screening remains relevant even as trends improve.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A standard STD test usually involves a blood draw, a urine sample, or a swab — sometimes all three, depending on what's being tested. The process takes about 15 minutes at most clinics. Results typically come back within a few days, and most testing sites in West Virginia offer confidential services. If something comes back positive, treatment for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis is straightforward and effective when caught early.
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