Map reveals the states where weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are most popular
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A new report has revealed where blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are most sought after.
About one in eight Americans, or 31 million people, have reported taking a weight loss shot like Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound at least once, and as many as one in five women over 50 have turned to them to lose weight, experts estimate.
The drugs, which mimic the natural gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) to slow digestion, helping people feel fuller longer, have transformed the weight-loss landscape.
Obesity rates nationwide have also slowly showed signs of falling. The latest CDC figures show 40 percent of US adults between 2021 and 2023 were obese compared to 42 percent in the previous three-year period.
Now, a report from experts at NiceRx has ranked the states where residents searched the most for information on GLP-1 medications within the last year and compared the results to the states' obesity rates.
The researchers found South Carolina had the highest rate of searches at 11,101 per 100,000 people, which added up to over 720,000 total in the last 12 months.
The latest CDC data also shows 36 percent of adults in South Carolina are obese, the 12th-highest ranking in the US.
Alaska and Florida followed closely behind with 10,561 and 10,467 searches per 100,000 people, respectively. In Alaska, 35 percent of adults are obese, while that figure drops to 30 percent for Florida.
South Carolina had the most searches for GLP-1 medications in the past 12 months, a new report has revealed. Charleston, South Carolina, is pictured in the above stock image
Rhode Island and North Carolina rounded out the top five states where weight-loss drugs were most sought after, with 10,210 and 10,156 searches per 100,000 people, respectively. About 32 percent of adults in Rhode Island are obese compared to 34 percent in North Carolina.
Among the top 10 states that were ranked, North Dakota had the fewest searches at 9,960 per 100,000 people, though it had the fourth-highest obesity rate in the rankings behind West Virginia, Mississippi and South Carolina.
The data looked at searches rather than prescriptions, so the findings do not mean those searchers translate to people taking GLP-1s.
The states most interested in GLP-1s were not automatically the ones with the highest obesity rankings.
West Virginia, which has been America's most obese state for five years in a row at 41 percent, had the seventh-most searches for GLP-1 medications.
Mississippi, which has the country's second-highest obesity rate at 40 percent, had the sixth-most searches.
There were 10,143 searches per 100,000 people in Mississippi and 10,105 per 100,000 in West Virginia.
South Carolina's weight-loss medication searches totaled to 720,460 in the last 12 months, NiceRx estimates. This adds up to one in nine people in the state.
Along with the 12th-highest obesity rate in the US, it also has the 10th-highest physical inactivity rate of 26.3 percent, according to figures from America's Health Rankings.
It's unclear why searches for GLP-1s were more prevalent in South Carolina, but it could be due to an increase in diagnoses of diabetes, a disease GLP-1 drugs were originally approved to treat.
Data from the US Diabetes Surveillance System, part of the CDC, shows diagnoses are at an all-time high of 12.6 percent in the state as of 2023. This is up from 11 percent in 2022. In 2000, the rate was just seven percent in South Carolina.
The findings come as about one in eight US adults, or 31 million, have taken at GLP-1 like Ozempic at least once (stock image)
The state's aging population is also increasing. Data from the South Carolina Department of Aging and the US Census Bureau shows the state's population of people over 65 is expected to double, to about 2.7 million, in the next two decades.
Older adults are more prone to diabetes and weight gain because their cells become less responsive to insulin, leading to insulin resistance. The pancreas eventually can't keep up and produce enough insulin, causing glucose to build up in the blood, leading to diabetes.
Metabolism also slows with age, increasing the risk of weight gain.
North Dakota ranked 10th on the list with 9,960 searches per 100,000 people.
North Dakota's population of older residents is also growing, though more slowly than South Carolina. About 16 percent of residents are over 65 compared to 20 percent of South Carolinians.
In 2025, North Dakota also became the first US state to add GLP-1s for weight loss to its Essential Health Benefits program under the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurance to cover their cost. This may reduce the need for online searches because the drugs are more easily available.
