HIV and AIDS Facts

In San Francisco

• San Francisco has an estimated 15,811 people living with HIV. San Francisco has one of the largest populations of people living with HIV in the United States. The city represents 2% of California’s total population, but is home to 11% of its HIV-positive population.
• Of the total number of San Franciscans living with HIV, 8,950 were living with AIDS at the end of 2020. AIDS is a late stage of HIV disease defined by a low count of CD4 cells.
• Men who have sex with men of all ages and ethnicities continue to be significantly affected by HIV: Nearly 86% of people living with HIV in San Francisco are gay and bisexual men and 70% of new HIV diagnoses are among gay and bisexual men.
• More than a quarter (30%) of people living with HIV have not achieved viral suppression, a level of the virus so low that it is undetectable and nearly impossible to transmit. Nearly a third (28%) are not retained in care.
• Black communities are disproportionately represented among new HIV diagnoses: While Black San Franciscans are only 5.6% of the city's population, they represented 21% of new HIV diagnoses in 2020.
• Of all new HIV diagnoses, transgender women represent almost 4% of new cases. 38% of trans women newly diagnosed were between 13-29 years old.
• The Latinx community represents 37% of all new diagnoses in San Francisco.
• Deaths from AIDS-related causes have declined dramatically as a result of effective treatment and adherence. In 2019, 70 people died from AIDS-related causes. Since the beginning of the epidemic, the city has lost 22,042 people to the disease. At its peak in 1992, the city lost 2,331 people.

In Los Angeles

• More than 57,000 people are living with HIV in Los Angeles County. A majority of the people living with HIV in the county are male (85%) and/or Latinx (40%).
• 84% of new diagnoses were among gay and bisexual men.
• 66% of new diagnoses were among people between the ages of 20-39.
• 49% of new diagnoses were among Latinx people.
• Black communities are nearly four times more likely to test positive for HIV compared to Caucasians.
• The Hollywood-Wilshire district in Los Angeles, which includes the city of West Hollywood, has the highest rate of people living with HIV in the county.
• 60% of people living with HIV in the county are virally suppressed (i.e., their viral loads have reached an undetectable level).

In California

• More than 139,000 people are living with HIV.
• Beginning in 2017, more than 4000 people are diagnosed with HIV each year.
• 70% of all HIV diagnoses occur among gay or bisexual men.
• Since 2011, there has been a steady increase in the number of HIV diagnoses among transgender people.
• Black communities account for nearly 17% of those living with HIV.
• Latinx people account for over 38% of those living with HIV—a percentage that has grown since 2011.
• Nearly half of all Californians living with HIV reside in Los Angeles County or the San Francisco Bay Area.