How many Americans have been diagnosed with HIV?
In 2023, 38,793 people were newly diagnosed with HIV, with Black Americans, men, and young adults (ages 13–34) most impacted.
In 2023, 1.1 million people were living with diagnosed HIV in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is a disease spread through sex that weakens a person’s immune system, compromising their health by attacking the white blood cells that are critical to fighting off disease.
Early HIV diagnosis is one pillar of the federal government’s plan to end the HIV epidemic.
How many people are diagnosed with HIV each year?
In 2023, 38,793 people in the US were newly diagnosed with HIV, a number that has surpassed the previous 2017 high. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) attributes the increase to increased testing, as people who delayed healthcare in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic returned to the doctor.
The federal government’s goal is to reduce annual new diagnoses to 9,588 by 2025, and then to 3,000 by 2030.
HIV diagnoses have exceeded the highs recorded in 2017.
Number of people with an HIV diagnosis, 2017–2023
How do HIV diagnoses vary by race and ethnicity?
Black Americans accounted for 38.0% of new HIV diagnoses in 2023—the highest share of any race or ethnicity:
- Black/African American: 14,747 cases, or 38.0%
- Hispanic/Latino: 13,025, or 33.6%
- White: 8,904, or 22.9%
- Multiracial: 1,046, or 2.7%
- Asian: 815, or 2.1%
- American Indian/Alaska Native: 202, or 0.5%
- Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 54, or 0.1%
When adjusted for population, HIV diagnosis rates were more than nine times higher for Black Americans (41.9 per 100,000) than for Asian Americans (4.6 per 100,000).
HIV rates among Black Americans are double that of the next highest racial demographic.
HIV rate per 100,000 of people with confirmed HIV diagnosis, by race/ethnicity, 2017–2023
How do HIV diagnoses vary by age and gender?
Nearly 37% of new HIV cases in 2023 were among people ages 25–34 (14,236 cases), followed by ages 35–44 (8,867), 13–24 (7,117), 45–54 (4,735), 55–64 (2,881), and 65+ (957).
After adjusting for population, individuals under age 35 accounted for more than 50% of all new HIV diagnoses.
More than half of HIV diagnoses in 2023 were Americans under age 35.
Rate per 100,000 of people with confirmed HIV diagnosis, by age group, 2017–2023
Men have accounted for at least 80% of new HIV diagnoses since 2017. In 2023, men represented 31,474 new cases (81.1%), a rate of 22.5 per 100,000 people.
Female cases have remained below 7,400 since 2017; in 2023, there were 7,319 diagnoses (5.1 per 100,000).
How are most HIV cases transmitted?
Male-to-male sexual contact accounted for 66.1% of new HIV diagnoses in 2023 (25,654 cases). Nearly 24% were attributed to heterosexual contact, 6.3% to injection drug use, 3.5% to a combination of male-to-male sexual contact and injection drug use, and 0.2% to other transmission categories.
Which states have the most new HIV diagnoses?
Nationally, there were 13.7 HIV diagnoses per 100,000 people in 2023. Rates were highest in Washington, D.C. (32.6 per 100,000) and Georgia (25.5 per 100,000). New Hampshire and Vermont had the lowest rates, at 2.8 and 1.8, respectively.
Washington, DC, and Georgia have the highest HIV diagnosis rates in the nation.
Rate per 100,000 of people with confirmed HIV diagnosis, 2023
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New diagnoses and rate per 100,000 of people with confirmed HIV diagnosis, 2023
