Taking medicine to control high blood pressure among adults with high blood pressure

US estimate 77.0% (95% interval 76.5–77.5), age-adjusted 57.5% (56.8–58.2). Published in the 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 releases.

Population: All Adults
Case definition period: Current
Prevalence (crude and age-adjusted)

78.5%median county, 2025middle half 76.4%–80.2%

2,956counties with a 2025 estimaterange 52.4%–87.2%

Taking medicine to control high blood pressure among adults with high blood pressure: CDC's PLACES 2025 release estimates 77.0% nationally (95% confidence interval 76.5–77.5%), or 57.5% age-adjusted, from 2023 BRFSS responses.

Across the 2,956 counties with a 2025 estimate, the median county is 78.5% and the middle half of counties fall between 76.4% and 80.2%; the full range runs from 52.4% to 87.2%. Population-weighted state figures computed by this site (no interval) range from 65.6% (Utah) to 81.3% (Kentucky).

CDC advises that areas may be compared on individual measures but that the estimates should not be used to rank overall health; the county lists below are ordered by point estimate and every row carries its 95% confidence interval.

CDC's definition

A multilevel regression and post-stratification approach was applied to BRFSS and ACS data to compute a detailed probability among adults with high blood pressure who reported currently taking medicine for high blood pressure. The probability was then applied to the detailed population estimates at the appropriate geographic level to generate the prevalence. The 95% confidence interval was derived using Monte Carlo simulation.

CDC's notes: This measure does not include people with hypertension who have their blood pressure successfully controlled through lifestyle changes and without medication. It only measures those who recall being told they have high blood pressure and not those who have not been told they have high blood pressure. This information is not validated against actual blood pressure measurements or medical records. Survey questions are part of the BRFSS rotating core (odd years).

Quoted from CDC's PLACES measure definitions (cdc.gov/places/measure-definitions). BRFSS is the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the telephone survey the model is trained on.

National distribution across counties

52.4%69.8%87.2%

Crude county point estimates in the 2025 release, 24 equal bins. Deciles: 10th 73.2%, 25th 76.4%, median 78.5%, 75th 80.2%, 90th 81.7%. Counties without a 2025 estimate (Kentucky, Pennsylvania and the states without the social-needs module) are excluded here.

By state

Crude prevalence is the estimated share of all adults. Age-adjusted prevalence is standardised to the 2000 US standard population so that areas with different age structures can be compared. CDC: "Age-adjusted estimates are only available at the county and place-level."

State	State figure, crude (site aggregate)	Lowest county	Highest county	Counties
Kentucky (2024 release)	81.3%	76.2%	85.6%	120*
South Carolina	80.2%	76.2%	86.8%	46
Mississippi	79.7%	73.4%	84.5%	82
West Virginia	79.5%	73.8%	83.2%	55
Ohio	79.2%	73.0%	84.6%	88
Pennsylvania (2024 release)	79.2%	76.0%	84.0%	67*
Louisiana	78.8%	74.0%	85.1%	64
Florida	78.4%	74.1%	87.2%	67
Delaware	78.1%	75.6%	83.5%	3
Alabama	78.0%	74.7%	83.5%	67
Iowa	77.8%	70.4%	82.3%	99
Wisconsin	77.8%	74.3%	83.7%	72
Kansas	77.6%	68.6%	84.2%	105
Michigan	77.6%	71.8%	84.1%	83
Nebraska	77.5%	75.5%	84.5%	93
Georgia	77.4%	58.9%	85.8%	159
Indiana	77.4%	72.4%	82.4%	92
Rhode Island	77.4%	76.8%	79.1%	5
Missouri	77.2%	67.9%	84.2%	115
New Jersey	77.2%	71.3%	82.4%	21
New York	77.2%	72.0%	82.7%	62
Arkansas	76.9%	69.7%	82.7%	75
Hawaii	76.9%	74.6%	80.7%	5
New Hampshire	76.8%	73.0%	82.2%	10
Virginia	76.8%	65.9%	85.4%	133
North Carolina	76.7%	68.2%	83.8%	100
Vermont	76.7%	73.5%	80.8%	14
Maryland	76.6%	74.7%	82.1%	24
Connecticut	76.5%	75.2%	78.8%	9
Maine	76.4%	74.0%	79.9%	16
North Dakota	76.3%	72.2%	84.5%	53
Oklahoma	76.3%	71.0%	81.1%	77
Tennessee	76.2%	69.8%	82.3%	95
Minnesota	76.1%	72.6%	83.4%	87
South Dakota	75.9%	69.3%	82.4%	66
Illinois	75.7%	71.4%	81.9%	102
Massachusetts	75.4%	73.0%	83.1%	14
Texas	74.1%	66.6%	85.4%	253
Arizona	73.9%	68.9%	83.6%	15
Montana	73.4%	67.3%	82.0%	56
New Mexico	73.3%	69.8%	83.4%	33
Wyoming	73.0%	65.7%	79.1%	23
Nevada	72.2%	71.1%	79.8%	17
District of Columbia	71.6%	71.6%	71.6%	1
Oregon	71.4%	68.1%	80.1%	36
California	71.3%	66.7%	79.2%	58
Washington	70.7%	66.4%	79.5%	39
Idaho	70.5%	52.4%	78.6%	44
Colorado	69.5%	65.4%	79.1%	64
Alaska	68.0%	63.3%	76.3%	30
Utah	65.6%	59.6%	77.5%	29

State	State figure, age-adjusted (site aggregate)	Counties
Kentucky (2024 release)	65.1%	120*
Mississippi	64.9%	82
Louisiana	63.4%	64
South Carolina	62.9%	46
Georgia	61.9%	159
Alabama	61.6%	67
Ohio	61.2%	88
West Virginia	60.9%	55
Indiana	60.2%	92
Arkansas	60.0%	75
Kansas	59.8%	105
Pennsylvania (2024 release)	59.8%	67*
Oklahoma	59.7%	77
Virginia	59.3%	133
Nebraska	59.2%	93
North Carolina	59.1%	100
Iowa	58.9%	99
Tennessee	58.9%	95
Missouri	58.8%	115
North Dakota	58.8%	53
Michigan	58.7%	83
Delaware	58.6%	3
Florida	58.5%	67
Maryland	58.5%	24
Texas	58.4%	253
New Jersey	58.0%	21
Rhode Island	58.0%	5
Wisconsin	58.0%	72
New York	57.8%	62
Connecticut	57.2%	9
District of Columbia	57.2%	1
Illinois	56.7%	102
Minnesota	56.6%	87
South Dakota	56.4%	66
Massachusetts	55.6%	14
Hawaii	55.4%	5
New Hampshire	55.2%	10
Vermont	54.3%	14
Maine	54.0%	16
Arizona	53.6%	15
Nevada	53.1%	17
New Mexico	52.8%	33
California	52.2%	58
Wyoming	52.0%	23
Montana	51.8%	56
Washington	51.4%	39
Alaska	51.0%	30
Idaho	50.7%	44
Oregon	50.7%	36
Colorado	50.4%	64
Utah	49.6%	29

State figures are population-weighted county estimates computed by this site (PLACES publishes no state row) and carry no interval; they are listed by point estimate, which is not a ranking of states' health. Lowest and highest county columns are crude point estimates. * This measure was not published for the state in the 2025 release; its figure, county count and county range come from the release in brackets, the most recent that has them.

Highest county estimates

County	Crude	95% interval
Sumter County, FL	87.2%	84.8–89.2
McCormick County, SC	86.8%	84.6–88.7
Quitman County, GA	85.8%	83.7–87.8
Jeff Davis County, TX	85.4%	82.8–87.6
Lancaster County, VA	85.4%	83.0–87.6
Tensas Parish, LA	85.1%	82.9–87.0
Towns County, GA	85.0%	82.6–87.1
Georgetown County, SC	84.8%	82.4–86.9
Randolph County, GA	84.6%	82.5–86.5
Noble County, OH	84.6%	82.2–86.7
Sharkey County, MS	84.5%	83.0–85.9
Sheridan County, ND	84.5%	82.1–86.8
Boyd County, NE	84.5%	82.1–86.6
Northumberland County, VA	84.5%	81.7–86.8
Taliaferro County, GA	84.4%	82.2–86.4
Baker County, GA	84.3%	82.2–86.4
Talbot County, GA	84.3%	82.0–86.4
Amite County, MS	84.3%	82.0–86.4
Highland County, VA	84.3%	81.5–86.7
Clay County, GA	84.2%	82.0–86.3

County	Age-adj.	95% interval
Holmes County, MS	69.9%	65.5–73.8
Claiborne County, MS	69.7%	65.4–73.7
Jefferson County, MS	69.5%	65.2–73.6
Leflore County, MS	69.5%	65.3–73.6
Tunica County, MS	69.5%	65.2–73.6
Humphreys County, MS	69.3%	64.8–73.4
Coahoma County, MS	69.2%	64.9–73.4
Quitman County, MS	69.2%	65.0–73.0
Sharkey County, MS	69.2%	66.0–72.2
Sunflower County, MS	68.6%	64.2–72.6
Bolivar County, MS	68.4%	64.1–72.5
Washington County, MS	68.4%	64.2–72.6
Noxubee County, MS	68.0%	63.5–72.2
Perry County, AL	67.9%	63.6–72.3
Wilkinson County, MS	67.9%	63.4–72.0
Greene County, AL	67.8%	63.4–71.9
Jefferson Davis County, MS	67.8%	63.5–71.9
Hinds County, MS	67.7%	63.4–72.0
Madison Parish, LA	67.5%	63.1–71.8
Yazoo County, MS	67.3%	63.0–71.4

Lowest county estimates

County	Crude	95% interval
Madison County, ID	52.4%	49.7–55.1
Chattahoochee County, GA	58.9%	56.1–61.9
Utah County, UT	59.6%	56.5–62.5
Aleutians West Census Area, AK	63.3%	58.9–67.4
Bethel Census Area, AK	63.5%	60.2–67.0
Cache County, UT	64.0%	60.7–67.2
Kusilvak Census Area, AK	64.9%	61.6–68.3
Tooele County, UT	65.1%	61.5–68.5
Denver County, CO	65.4%	62.0–68.6
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK	65.4%	62.4–68.2
North Slope Borough, AK	65.6%	61.8–69.2
Albany County, WY	65.7%	62.4–68.7
Salt Lake County, UT	65.8%	62.8–68.4
Davis County, UT	65.8%	62.5–69.2
Radford city, VA	65.9%	63.3–68.6
Crowley County, CO	65.9%	62.1–69.5
Northwest Arctic Borough, AK	66.0%	62.5–69.4
Whitman County, WA	66.4%	63.7–69.0
Weber County, UT	66.5%	63.3–69.4
Hudspeth County, TX	66.6%	64.7–68.7

County	Age-adj.	95% interval
Boulder County, CO	48.0%	43.9–52.2
Utah County, UT	48.2%	44.7–51.7
Jefferson County, CO	48.7%	45.0–52.4
Mesa County, CO	48.9%	44.5–53.2
Bristol Bay Borough, AK	49.1%	44.5–53.7
Hinsdale County, CO	49.3%	44.5–53.9
Grand County, CO	49.3%	44.6–53.9
Eagle County, CO	49.3%	44.7–53.8
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK	49.3%	45.4–53.5
Jefferson County, WA	49.4%	45.2–53.7
Jackson County, OR	49.4%	45.0–53.6
Idaho County, ID	49.4%	45.2–53.6
Davis County, UT	49.5%	45.8–53.4
Ada County, ID	49.5%	45.6–53.3
Kalawao County, HI	49.5%	44.8–53.9
Elbert County, CO	49.5%	44.8–54.2
San Diego County, CA	49.5%	45.8–53.1
Haines Borough, AK	49.5%	44.9–54.0
Salt Lake County, UT	49.6%	46.4–52.9
Pitkin County, CO	49.6%	44.7–54.2

Twenty counties at each end by point estimate. Small counties have wide intervals; many of these intervals overlap one another, so the order within each list is not a meaningful ranking. CDC: "the data should not be used for ranking the overall health of any county, place, census tract, or ZCTA."

National estimate by release

Release	Crude	Age-adjusted	BRFSS year
2022 release	76.2% 75.7–76.6	56.3%	2019
2023 release	78.2% 77.7–78.7	58.9%	2021
2024 release	78.2% 77.7–78.7	58.9%	2021
2025 release	77.0% 76.5–77.5	57.5%	2023

CDC's US row from each release's county file, for reference. Survey questions and modelling details change between releases; see the release pages.

Questions and answers

How does PLACES define "taking medicine to control high blood pressure among adults with high blood pressure"?

A multilevel regression and post-stratification approach was applied to BRFSS and ACS data to compute a detailed probability among adults with high blood pressure who reported currently taking medicine for high blood pressure. The probability was then applied to the detailed population estimates at the appropriate geographic level to generate the prevalence. The 95% confidence interval was derived using Monte Carlo simulation. Population: All Adults. Time period of case definition: Current.

What is the national estimate for high Blood Pressure Medication?

77.0% (95% confidence interval 76.5–77.5%) crude and 57.5% age-adjusted in the 2025 release.

Which counties have the highest and lowest estimates?

The highest county point estimate is 87.2% (Sumter County, FL) and the lowest 52.4% (Madison County, ID). Because the intervals for neighbouring positions usually overlap, the lists are a reference for point estimates, not a ranking.

Is a higher figure better or worse?

This site does not grade measures. CDC groups them as health outcomes, prevention, health risk behaviors, disability, health status and health-related social needs; for prevention measures such as checkups and screening a higher share reports the service, for the others a higher share reports the condition or circumstance.

Where does this data come from?

CDC PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, 2025 release (data updated 4 Dec 2025); the definition text is CDC's own from its measure definitions pages.

Provenance

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, 2025 release (data updated 4 Dec 2025), with the 2022, 2023, 2024 releases for reference; US government work, public domain. Dataset on data.cdc.gov. Boundaries and ZIP-to-county relationships: US Census Bureau. Percentages are shown to one decimal as CDC publishes them; state figures are population-weighted means computed by this site. Definition text is CDC's own, from the PLACES measure definitions pages (public domain), with its burden narrative and references omitted. Processing errors are corrected at the next daily build; see corrections. Generated 30 Sep 2026.