Opioid Dispensing Rate Maps
While not a primary driver of drug overdose in the United States currently, prescription opioids do contribute to opioid-related deaths.1 The data in the maps show the geographic distribution in the United States, at both the state and county level, of retail pharmacy-dispensed opioid prescriptions per 100 persons per year from 2019–2022.2,3,4
Data are displayed within two types of interactive maps that show the estimated rate of opioid prescriptions per 100 U.S. residents. The state maps portray the rates per year for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The county maps portray these rates for approximately 98% of U.S. counties represented in the IQVIA data for a given year from 2019-2022. Click on a county or state to reveal its opioid dispensing rate or view the corresponding data table for additional information.
- The overall national opioid dispensing rate declined steadily from a rate of 46.8 opioid prescriptions dispensed per 100 persons in 2019 to a rate of 39.5 opioid prescriptions dispensed per 100 persons (a total of more than 131 million opioid prescriptions) in 2022.
- Dispensing rates for opioids vary widely across states and counties. Opioid dispensing rates were highest in Southern states. States with the highest opioid dispensing rates in 2022 per 100 persons include Alabama (74.5), Arkansas (72.2), Louisiana (65.6), and Mississippi (64.0).
- States with the lowest opioid dispensing rates in 2022 per 100 persons include Hawaii (24.3), California (25.6), Minnesota (27.7), and New Jersey (28.0).
1 https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/epidemic.html
2 Opioid prescriptions, including buprenorphine formulations commonly prescribed for treating pain (Belbuca and Butrans), codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, propoxyphene, tapentadol, and tramadol, were identified using National Drug Codes.
3 Source for all dispensing data: IQVIA Xponent 2019–2022. IQVIA Xponent is based on a sample of approximately 56,500 retail (non-hospital) pharmacies, which dispense nearly 93% of all retail prescriptions in the United States. For this database, a prescription is a new or refilled prescription dispensed at a retail pharmacy in the sample and paid for by commercial insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, cash or its equivalent, and other third-party coverage. This database does not include mail-order prescriptions. Geographic location is based on the location of the prescriber. Methadone dispensed through methadone treatment programs is not included in the IQVIA Xponent data.
4 For the calculation of dispensing rates, numerators are the projected total number of opioid prescriptions dispensed annually at the state, county, or national level. Annual resident population denominators were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Note: data updated October 2023, rates are subject to change with future data updates.
