This page is general health information, not medical advice. It cannot tell you whether you have an infection. A clinician can, and the testing options on this site are a good place to start.

Public health agencies publish STD rates so that communities can see where infections are most common and where testing matters most. This guide pulls together the latest published figures for Travis County, where most of Austin sits, and compares them with Texas. Every number comes with its year and source.

The guide also explains how to read std rates by state and std rates by city without drawing the wrong conclusion. It ends with free and low-cost testing options in Austin.

Key takeaways

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported a 2022 chlamydia rate of 712.6 per 100,000 people in Travis County, compared with 519.9 for Texas that year.
For gonorrhea, DSHS reported 351.4 per 100,000 in Travis County in 2022, compared with 207.0 for Texas.
Travis County's 2022 primary and secondary syphilis rate was 31.5 per 100,000, and the Texas rate was 15.5, both from DSHS.
Rates describe reported cases in a population. They cannot tell any one person whether they have an infection. Only a test can do that.
Austin Public Health lists a $30 fee for testing and treatment at its Sexual Health Clinic, and several Austin clinics offer free HIV testing.

In this guide

How to read STD rates
Travis County: the latest figures
Texas: the latest figures and how Travis County compares
STD rates by state and by city: comparing fairly
What shapes the numbers
Texas rules that matter for testing
Free and low-cost testing in Austin
Sources

How to read STD rates

A rate is the number of reported cases divided by the population, then scaled to 100,000 people. Rates let you compare places of different sizes. A county with 9,452 cases and a county with 900 cases cannot be compared by counts alone. Rates make that comparison fair.

Reported cases are not all infections

Surveillance counts only the infections that were tested for, diagnosed and reported to the health department. The CDC notes that many STIs cause no symptoms, so some infections are never found. That means a published rate reflects both how common an infection is and how much testing is happening.

A rising rate can mean more infections. It can also mean more people are being tested. Public health staff look at both possibilities before drawing a conclusion.

Why the year matters

Surveillance data takes time to finalize. The latest county STD figures in this guide are from 2022. The latest county HIV figures from the state are from 2021, and the CDC has since released county HIV figures for 2024. Each figure below carries its own year so you can see exactly what it describes.

Why we do not mix sources

The CDC and DSHS count and publish data slightly differently. When this guide compares Travis County with Texas, it uses figures from the same source and the same year. Mixing a 2022 county number with a 2023 state number from another agency would make the gap look bigger or smaller than it is.

Travis County: the latest figures

The Texas DSHS publishes county-level STD data in its annual surveillance reports. The table shows the most recent county figures for the four infections people ask about most.

Infection	Cases	Rate per 100,000	Year	Source
Chlamydia	9,452	712.6	2022	Texas DSHS, Texas STD Surveillance Report
Gonorrhea	4,661	351.4	2022	Texas DSHS, Texas STD Surveillance Report
Syphilis, primary and secondary	418	31.5	2022	Texas DSHS, Texas STD Surveillance Report
Syphilis, all stages	1,470	Not published in the report tables	2022	Texas DSHS, Texas STD Surveillance Report
HIV, new diagnoses	226	17.3	2021	Texas DSHS, Texas HIV Surveillance Report

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is the most commonly reported infection in the county. The Texas DSHS recorded 9,452 cases in Travis County in 2022, a rate of 712.6 per 100,000 people. The CDC STI Treatment Guidelines (2021) describe chlamydia as a bacterial infection that is curable with treatment from a clinician. It often has no symptoms, which is one reason screening matters.

Gonorrhea

The Texas DSHS recorded 4,661 gonorrhea cases in Travis County in 2022, a rate of 351.4 per 100,000. Gonorrhea is also a bacterial infection, and it is curable with treatment from a clinician. The CDC guidelines recommend that a clinician choose the treatment, because recommended regimens change over time.

Syphilis

Syphilis is reported by stage. Primary and secondary syphilis are the early stages, and the Texas DSHS reported 418 cases in Travis County in 2022, a rate of 31.5 per 100,000. The same report counts 1,470 cases across all stages in the county. The report tables do not publish a county rate for all stages combined, so this guide does not calculate one.

Syphilis is a bacterial infection that is curable with treatment from a clinician. The CDC says it can progress through stages if it is not treated, which is why testing and follow-up matter.

HIV

The Texas DSHS HIV Surveillance Report for 2021 lists 226 new HIV diagnoses in Travis County, a rate of 17.3 per 100,000. More recently, the CDC's HIV Surveillance Data Release Tables for 2024 list 235 new diagnoses in Travis County, a rate of 20.0 per 100,000 people aged 13 and older.

These two rates are not directly comparable. They come from different agencies, cover different years, and use different populations. The first is calculated for the whole population and the second for people aged 13 and older. HIV is not curable, but it is treatable. The CDC says people with HIV who take medicine as prescribed by a clinician can stay healthy for many years.

Texas: the latest figures and how Travis County compares

Texas is a large state with very different regions, so the statewide figure is a blend of urban, suburban and rural counties. To compare Travis County with Texas fairly, this section uses the DSHS figures for the same years.

Same-source comparison, DSHS 2022 (HIV 2021)

Infection	Travis County rate per 100,000	Texas rate per 100,000	Year
Chlamydia	712.6	519.9	2022
Gonorrhea	351.4	207.0	2022
Syphilis, primary and secondary	31.5	15.5	2022
HIV, new diagnoses	17.3	14.8	2021

Source: Texas DSHS, Texas STD Surveillance Report (2022 annual report) and Texas HIV Surveillance Report (2021 annual report).

In these DSHS figures, Travis County's rates are higher than the Texas rates for each of the four infections. The state's 2022 counts were 156,131 chlamydia cases, 62,174 gonorrhea cases and 4,655 primary and secondary syphilis cases. For all stages of syphilis, DSHS reported 25,991 cases statewide in 2022, a rate of 86.6 per 100,000. In 2021, DSHS reported 4,377 new HIV diagnoses in Texas.

A higher county rate is not a statement about the people who live there. Large university and metro areas often have more routine screening, and screening finds infections that would otherwise go unreported. That is one reason the numbers should be read as a picture of testing and transmission together.

The CDC's national reports for Texas

The CDC publishes its own state figures. They are kept separate here because they come from a different agency and a different year.

Chlamydia, 2023: 150,056 cases, 491.9 per 100,000 (CDC, Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance 2023).
Gonorrhea, 2023: 53,793 cases, 176.4 per 100,000 (CDC, Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance 2023).
Primary and secondary syphilis, 2023: 4,562 cases, 15.0 per 100,000 (CDC, Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance 2023).
Congenital syphilis, 2023: 930 cases, 238.6 per 100,000 live births (CDC, Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance 2023).
HIV new diagnoses, 2024: 5,016 cases, 16.0 per 100,000 people of all ages (CDC, HIV Surveillance Data Release Tables, 2024).

What about year-on-year change?

A fair year-on-year comparison needs the same source, the same definition and the same population in both years. The county figures available for this guide are a single year for each infection: 2022 for STDs and 2021 for state HIV data. This guide therefore does not claim that Austin's rates are rising or falling.

The Texas DSHS posts new annual reports on its HIV and STD reports page. When a newer county report is released, compare it with the 2022 numbers above, using the same agency for both years.

STD rates by state and by city: comparing fairly

People often look up std rates by state to see where Texas stands, then std rates by city to see where Austin stands. Both comparisons are useful. Both have limits.

Comparing states

The CDC publishes state ranking tables each year in its STI Surveillance report. These are the best source for comparing Texas with other states because every state is measured the same way. Check that the year is the same for every state you compare.

Texas figures from the CDC for 2023 appear in the previous section. For other states, use the same CDC tables rather than a mix of sources.

Comparing cities

Most surveillance data is reported by county, not by city. Austin is mainly in Travis County, with parts in Williamson and Hays counties, according to the City of Austin Planning Department. That means Travis County rates describe most of the city, but not all of it.

When you see std rates by city in a news story or on another website, check three things:

Is the figure a rate per 100,000 or a raw count?
Is it from the same year and agency as the place it is being compared with?
Does the area follow the city limits, or is it the whole county?

If any answer is unclear, treat the comparison with caution.

Why a higher rate does not mean a higher personal risk

A county rate is an average across hundreds of thousands of people. It does not describe any one person. Whether you might benefit from a test depends on your own circumstances, and a clinician can talk that through with you. The CDC and the USPSTF publish screening recommendations by age, pregnancy status and other factors, and a clinician can explain which apply to you.

What shapes the numbers

No single factor explains a county's STD rates. Public health agencies describe several that work together. Austin-specific causes are not published in the sources used for this guide, so this section sticks to what the CDC says in general.

Infections without symptoms

The CDC notes that chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV can all be present without obvious symptoms. People do not seek care for something they cannot feel. Infections can then pass between partners without anyone knowing. Routine screening is how these infections get found.

How much testing happens

More testing finds more infections. A community that tests widely can show a higher rate than a community that tests less, even if the true level of infection is similar. Rates are best read as a combination of infection levels and testing activity.

Access to care

Cost, transportation, clinic hours, insurance status and worry about privacy can all keep people from testing. Treatment also matters. The CDC says untreated infections can keep spreading and can cause health problems over time. Making testing easy, affordable and confidential is a core public health strategy.

Prevention tools

Condoms, regular screening, vaccines and medicines a clinician prescribes all play a role. The CDC STI Treatment Guidelines (2021) cover screening and treatment. In 2024 the CDC issued guidance on doxycycline taken after sex (doxy-PEP) for certain groups of people. It is a prescription decision made with a clinician, who can say whether it fits a person's situation.

For HIV, a clinician can prescribe PrEP, medicine that lowers the chance of getting HIV, and PEP, which is used after a possible exposure. Both are described later with local options.

Syphilis and pregnancy

The CDC reported 930 cases of congenital syphilis in Texas in 2023, a rate of 238.6 per 100,000 live births. Congenital syphilis happens when syphilis passes to a baby during pregnancy. It is preventable with timely testing and treatment during pregnancy, which is why Texas law requires screening, described in the next section.

Texas rules that matter for testing

Minors can consent to testing and treatment

Under Texas Family Code Section 32.003, a minor of any age may consent to diagnosis and treatment of a reportable infectious disease. That includes reportable STIs and HIV, and the Texas DSHS publication "HIV and Texas Law" confirms it for HIV. Parent or guardian consent is not required for this care.

The same statute lets a physician, dentist or psychologist tell a parent or guardian about the treatment. It permits this but does not require it. A teen who is worried about privacy can ask the clinic about its practices before the visit.

Reporting to the health department

The Texas DSHS lists chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV and AIDS among the notifiable conditions in Texas (Texas Notifiable Conditions, 2026). Labs and providers send case reports to the health department. These reports are what produce the rates in this guide. Reporting timeframes range from one work day for primary and secondary syphilis and acute HIV to one week for chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Screening during pregnancy

Texas Health and Safety Code Section 81.090 sets out testing during pregnancy:

Syphilis, HIV and hepatitis B tests at the first prenatal visit.
Syphilis and HIV tests in the third trimester, not earlier than the 28th week.
Syphilis and hepatitis B tests on admission for delivery, with expedited HIV testing if no third-trimester result is in the record.

The statute lets the woman object to the HIV tests. It does not allow objecting to the syphilis tests.

Treatment for partners

The CDC's summary of expedited partner therapy (EPT) in Texas says state administrative rules allow physicians and advanced practice nurses to prescribe STD medicine for the partner of an established patient without first examining the partner. Pharmacists may dispense those prescriptions. Ask your clinician whether it applies to your situation.

Free and low-cost testing in Austin

Knowing the rates is only useful if testing is within reach. Austin has several options, and our full list of Austin STD testing locations and costs has more detail. The CDC also runs a testing locator at gettested.cdc.gov. Hours, fees and services can change, so confirm by phone before you go.

Austin Public Health Sexual Health Clinic

Austin Public Health runs the Sexual Health Clinic at the RBJ Health Center, 15 Waller Street, Austin, TX 78702. The clinic's page says the fee for testing and treatment is $30. Standard tests are HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, and the clinic can test for genital herpes only when a person has active symptoms.

Hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. To schedule, use the online option or call 512-972-5430. The department's website carries a notice that content updates may be delayed, so confirm hours and fees by phone.

Austin Public Health's HIV page also describes a Red Ribbon program with free HIV counseling and testing for people without symptoms, plus a free walk-in express testing service of about 20 minutes. Schedule at 512-972-5430. The page does not state a location, so ask when you call.

Kind Clinic

Kind Clinic offers walk-in testing for gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, HIV and hepatitis C at its Austin Koenig location, 101 W Koenig Lane, Ste 100, Austin, TX 78751. Phone: 833-937-5463. The Austin South location at 2800 S IH 35 Frontage Rd #103 does not offer walk-in STI testing.

Koenig hours are Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Some Saturdays run 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and walk-in testing hours differ. Kind Clinic is closed on observed holidays and the first Friday of every month.

On cost, Kind Clinic says that since January 1, 2024, patients with health insurance must use their insurance for lab work. Patients who are uninsured or cannot afford lab costs can ask about its Kind Patient Assistance Program (KPAP). Kind Clinic also offers PrEP and PEP, and says doxy-PEP is not a standalone service, so you need to be receiving ongoing care there.

ASHwell Sexual Health + Wellness

ASHwell is a nonprofit at 3100 Red River St, Suite 3, Austin, TX 78705. It provides counseling, testing, diagnosis and treatment of STIs, and its services page says these are always free, although there may be costs for medication. STI treatment is for ASHwell patients. ASHwell does not accept walk-ins, so call (512) 900-3116 or email [email protected]. It also lists PrEP and PEP.

Vivent Health

Vivent Health in Austin is at 104 E. Highland Mall Blvd, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78752. Vivent says it offers free and confidential HIV testing at all of its locations. A CDC listing also shows free STI and hepatitis C testing at this site. Call 512-458-2437 for walk-in testing hours or to make an appointment. Vivent also offers PrEP.

CommUnityCare IDEALhealth Program

The CommUnityCare IDEALhealth Program is at the Hancock Health Center, 1000 E. 41st St., Suite 700, Austin, TX 78751. Phone: 512-978-9015. Its page lists STI and HIV testing and prevention, doxy-PEP, and sexual health vaccines including HPV, hepatitis A and B, and mpox. CommUnityCare uses a sliding fee scale, set through a meeting with a Financial Eligibility Specialist. The page does not say whether walk-ins are accepted.

CommUnityCare as a whole offers PrEP, PEP and HIV care, and HIV appointments can be booked at 512-978-9100. That page does not say these services are offered at the IDEALhealth site specifically, so ask when you call.

University Health Services at UT Austin

UT Austin's University Health Services STI Testing Clinic serves UT students. It is in the Student Services Building, 100 West Dean Keeton Street, Room 1.400. Phone: 512-471-4955. Tests include chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV and syphilis. Drop-in visits need no appointment but are for people without symptoms. People with symptoms need a provider appointment. The page does not list a price, so check with the clinic.

Free testing you can do at home

The Texas DSHS runs Test for Texas, which offers free mail-order self-testing for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Orders are placed at testfortexas.org.
Vivent Health's online depot lists free at-home HIV test kits for Austin residents, with a limit of 25 items per order.
Together TakeMeHome, which is CDC-funded, mails free HIV self-tests to anyone aged 17 and older in the U.S., and two self-tests come in each package.

What happens after a test

A positive result is not a judgment, and a clinician can explain the next steps. Bacterial STIs and trichomoniasis are curable with treatment from a clinician. HIV, herpes and HPV are not curable, but they are treatable or manageable. If you are unsure when to test after a possible exposure, the CDC publishes window period information, and a clinician can help you time it.

Testing is a routine part of health care. Everyone is welcome at the clinics above, whatever their gender, orientation or relationship status.

STD Rates in Austin: What the Latest Data Shows