Deeper Look: PrEP

What These Data Tell Us

What do the PrEP use data reveal?

(PrEP use data is from 2024, and new HIV diagnoses data is from 2022, unless otherwise noted.)

Overall PrEP Use:

• The number of PrEP users in the U.S. increased by 17% from 2023 to 2024, continuing a trend of consistent growth in PrEP use since 2012.
• Nationally, there are 16 PrEP users for every new HIV diagnosis.
• The South accounted for 53% of HIV diagnoses but only accounted for 39% of PrEP users. The South has the greatest unmet need for PrEP of all regions.

PrEP Use by Race/Ethnicity:

• Black people represented 38% of all new HIV diagnoses, but only accounted for 15% of PrEP users.
• Hispanic/Latinx people represented 32% of all new HIV diagnoses, but only accounted for 18% of PrEP users.
• White people represented 24% of all new HIV diagnoses but accounted for 63% of PrEP users.
• There is a greater unmet need for PrEP in Black and Hispanic/Latinx communities than White communities in all regions of the U.S.
• Regionally, Black people represented 48% of new HIV diagnoses in the South in 2022, but only 23% of PrEP users in the South in 2024; in the Midwest, Black people represented 42% of new HIV diagnoses in 2022, but only 13% of PrEP users in 2024.
• In the South, there were 29 white PrEP users for every new HIV diagnosis among white people. In comparison, there were only 6 Black PrEP users for every new HIV diagnosis among Black people.
• In the West, Hispanic/Latinx people represented 50% of new HIV diagnoses but only represented 24% of all PrEP users.

PrEP Use by Age:

• 65% of all PrEP users in 2024 were between ages 25 and 44 years old.
• Teenagers and young adults (aged 13-24 years) had the greatest unmet need for PrEP among all age groups, with a PrEP-to-Need Ratio (PnR) of 10. That means that for every person in that age group diagnosed with HIV, there were only 10 people using PrEP. People aged 35 to 44 and those aged 65+ had the highest PnR (with both age groups having a PnR of 19).

PrEP Use by Sex:

• Among all PrEP users in the U.S., 91% were male and only 9% were female, despite the fact that women comprised 19% of new HIV diagnoses.

PrEP Use and Medicaid Expansion:

• In 2024, states that had expanded Medicaid had an average PrEP use rate that was 1.3 times higher compared with states that had not expanded Medicaid.
• In 2024, states that had expanded Medicaid had an average PrEP-to-Need Ratio (PnR) that was more than twice as high compared to states that had not expanded Medicaid.

• • Note: 41 of the 50 US states + DC had adopted and implemented Medicaid expansion as of December 2024. (Puerto Rico not included.)

*Note: The PrEP-to-Need Ratio (PnR)—the ratio of the number of PrEP users to the number of people newly diagnosed with HIV—serves as a measurement for whether PrEP use appropriately reflects the need for HIV prevention in a geographic region or demographic subgroup. A lower PnR indicates more unmet need for PrEP.