New England AIDS Education and Training Center: ContentPages

HIV/AIDS in the United States

Education Packet

HIV/AIDS in the United States – This packet is a compilation of recent fact sheets and other resources. You may wish to customize it to meet the needs or interests of particular groups, such as event participants, providers, patients, clients, or the general public. So please feel free to distribute all or part of this packet as either a printout or PDF.

General Fact Sheets on the U.S. Epidemic

HIV in the United States and Dependent Areas (CDC) – This page has links to key information about HIV infection in the U.S., including: new HIV diagnoses; HIV incidence; knowledge of HIV status; viral suppression; and coverage of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Similar information is also available in Spanish.

Basic Statistics (CDC) – This provides general statistical information about HIV in the U.S., including the total number of new HIV diagnoses in 2020 and recent trends in diagnoses, HIV prevalence, and new diagnoses by transmission category and race/ethnicity. Additional information is provided on the population groups most heavily impacted by HIV in the U.S., as well as regional patterns of HIV in the nation. Also available in Spanish.

HIV in the United States by Region (CDC) – This summarizes HIV diagnoses in five regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, West, and U.S. Dependent Areas. Regional information is provided for HIV incidence, new diagnoses, knowledge of HIV status, and viral suppression. In recent years, the states with the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses were mainly in the South. Although new HIV diagnoses for the country as a whole have declined in recent years, diagnosis trends varied substantially by region. Also available in Spanish.

HIV’s Impact on Racial and Ethnic Minorities (HIV.gov) – This fact sheet includes information about the proportion of people with HIV by race/ethnicity compared to their proportion in the U.S. population; HIV incidence by race/ethnicity; Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clients from racial and ethnic minority population groups; and the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund.

CDC Fact Sheets on Affected Population Groups

CDC has produced a series of fact sheets that focus on different population groups affected by HIV/AIDS in the United States. These population groups are listed below with hyperlinks to the corresponding fact sheets.

National HIV/AIDS Strategy and Plan to End the U.S. HIV Epidemic

National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States: 2022-2025 (White House) – The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) outlines the framework and direction for the Administration’s policies, research, programs, and planning through 2025 in an effort to end the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2030. According to the new NHAS’s vision statement, “The United States will be a place where new HIV infections are prevented, every person knows their status, and every person with HIV has high-quality care and treatment, lives free from stigma and discrimination, and can achieve their full potential for health and well-being across the lifespan. This vision includes all people, regardless of age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, geographic location, or socioeconomic circumstance.” Key features of the new NHAS are summarized on an HIV.gov web page, as well as a two-page fact sheet.

National HIV/AIDS Strategy [NHAS] Federal Implementation Plan for the United States: 2022-2025 (CDC) – This document describes more than 380 action items that 10 federal departments will implement individually and collaboratively to meet the targets of the NHAS.

Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (CDC) – The Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative leverages scientific advances in HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outbreak response with the goal of reducing new HIV infections in the U.S. 90% by 2030. The EHE home page links to the following pages with more detailed information about the initiative: about EHE, CDC’s role in EHE, EHE in action, news and updates, prevent, diagnose, treat, and respond.

Division of HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Supplement: An Overview of Refreshed Priorities for 2022-2025 (CDC) – This document describes four areas of focus for CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention: health equity; community engagement; a syndemic approach, which involves collectively addressing intersecting conditions – such as HIV, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, substance use, and behavioral health; and a status neutral approach, which serves both persons with HIV and those in need of HIV prevention.

America’s HIV Epidemic Analysis Dashboard (AHEAD) – Launched by HHS in 2020, AHEAD is a data visualization tool designed to display data on the six core indicators the federal government uses to track progress towards the EHE Initiative goals: HIV incidence; knowledge of HIV status; HIV diagnoses; timely linkage to HIV medical care after diagnosis; HIV viral suppression; and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) coverage.

Surveillance Data and Other Reports from CDC

Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas 2020 (CDC) – This surveillance report includes detailed information about new HIV diagnoses, prevalence, and deaths in the U.S., including breakdowns by geographic region, gender, race/ethnicity, transmission category, and age. The report includes a series of Special Focus Profiles highlighting six populations of particular interest to HIV prevention programs in state and local health departments: gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men; persons who inject drugs; transgender persons; women; adolescents and young adults aged 13 through 24; and children under 13 years old.

Monitoring Selected National HIV Prevention and Care Objectives by Using HIV Surveillance Data United States and 6 Dependent Areas, 2020 (CDC) – This report presents the results of focused analyses of U.S. HIV surveillance data to measure progress toward ending the HIV epidemic. The report also includes a series of Special Focus Profiles highlighting six populations of particular interest to HIV prevention programs in state and local health departments. For some measures, data are broken down by area of residence, gender, age, race/ethnicity, and transmission category.

AtlasPlus (CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention) – This online tool gives users the ability to create customized tables, maps, and charts using more than 10 years of CDC surveillance data on HIV, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis in the United States. AtlasPlus also provides data on indicators of social determinants of health, thereby allowing users to view social and economic data together with surveillance data for each disease.

Estimated HIV Incidence and Prevalence in the United States, 2015-2019 (CDC) – This report provides estimates of the number of new HIV infections and the total number of persons living with HIV during each year from 2015 through 2019. It begins with a commentary section that summarizes highlights of the report, followed by tables that present data on HIV incidence and prevalence among adults and adolescents, with breakdowns by sex at birth, age, race/ethnicity, transmission category, and region of residence.

Estimated Annual Number of HIV Infections - United States, 1981-2019 (CDC) – This report tracks trends in U.S. HIV incidence since the beginning of the epidemic. The estimated number of new HIV infections increased from about 20,000 in 1981 to a peak of about 130,400 in 1984 and 1985. Since that time, HIV incidence decreased by 73% to 34,800 in 2019.

Estimated HIV Incidence and Prevalence in the United States, 2010-2019 (CDC) – This slide set summarizes trends in HIV incidence during the 2010s, with breakdowns by age, sex, race/ethnicity, transmission category, and region. Data for 2019 is also provided on knowledge of HIV status, as well as HIV prevalence in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

HIV Infection, Stage 3 (AIDS), 2020 (COVID-19 Pandemic) (CDC) – This slide set summarizes trends in AIDS diagnoses and deaths from 1985 to 2020, with breakdowns by age, sex, race/ethnicity, transmission category, and region. Data on cumulative AIDS diagnoses and deaths through 2020, and AIDS data for Metropolitan Statistical Areas are also provided.

HIV Mortality: 2020 (CDC) – This slide set presents an analysis – in a series of charts, graphs, and maps – of trends in the rates and distribution of deaths among people with HIV disease. Breakdowns are provided by gender, race/ethnicity, age, and geographic region.

HIV Surveillance in Urban and Nonurban Areas 2018 (Preliminary) (CDC) – This slide set presents data on regional variations of diagnoses of HIV and AIDS among adults and adolescents in the United States.

Social Determinants of Health among Adults with Diagnosed HIV Infection, 2019 (CDC) – This surveillance report examines the relationship of social determinants of health (SDH) and the HIV care continuum in the United States. SDH studied include federal poverty level status, education status, income level, health insurance coverage rates, and income inequality.

HIV Legal Landscape (CDC) – CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention systematically collects and assesses information about HIV statutes and regulatory frameworks to help determine whether these act as barriers or facilitators to effective HIV prevention. CDC summarizes in text, tables, and maps state-specific data on the following: state HIV laws that address high-impact HIV prevention efforts, HIV and STD criminal laws, minors consent laws, laboratory reporting laws, perinatal HIV testing laws, and HIV criminalization and the EHE initiative.

Additional Resources

2021 Annual Client-Level Data Report: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (Health Resources and Services Administration – HRSA) – This report presents an extensive analysis of data on the more than 576,000 clients served by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) in 2021. The report includes detailed breakdowns of client characteristics by age, gender, race/ethnicity, income level, health care coverage, and housing status. Detailed information is also provided on retention in HIV medical care and viral suppression rates in different population groups.

Overview of Clients: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, 2020 (HRSA) – This fact sheet summarizes information about the approximately 562,000 RWHAP clients during 2020, including information about client poverty levels, race-ethnicity, gender, age, and viral suppression rates. A related slide deck provides an overview of key RWHAP client data in a series of graphs.

RWHAP Fact Sheets for Selected Population Groups (HRSA)

AIDSVu – AIDSVu is an interactive online mapping tool that visualizes the impact of the HIV epidemic on communities across the United States. AIDSVu’s interactive national map can display state and county-level data on HIV prevalence, new diagnoses, PrEP usage, with filters for age, sex, various social determinants of health, and population density (rural versus urban). The site also includes blog postings and infographics focusing on important HIV health issues and affected population groups.

The contents listed on this page are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, the New England AIDS Education and Training Center.