Top 15 U.S. States With the Most Female Addicts
While men historically have higher addiction rates, recent data suggests a sharp increase in substance abuse among women.
This is possibly driven by economic stress, mental health gaps, and the ongoing opioid epidemic.
Using Google Trends data on searches related to addiction treatment, rehab centers, and substance abuse help, we’ve identified which states show the highest search interest in women’s rehab in 2025. Here’s what the data shows.
Key Takeaways
- Oklahoma leads the nation with the highest search interest for the term “Women rehab,” scoring 100 on Google’s index.
- Kentucky and Alabama closely followed Oklahoma, both having a score of 92.
- Search activity increased in the South and Southeast, suggesting a regional addiction concern.
- National interest in “women rehab” peaked in early March 2025, hitting the highest level in 12 months.
- Factors like economic instability, lack of mental health support, and the opioid epidemic may be driving this spike in searches.
States With the Highest Search Interest in Women’s Addiction Help
Between March 2024 and March 2025, search interest for the term “women rehab” varied widely across the U.S., according to Google Trends data. A score of 100 represents the peak search volume in a given region relative to others.
Oklahoma stood out as the clear leader, with the maximum search interest score of 100. This means that, compared to other states, Oklahoma women searched for addiction help at the highest rate.
Here are the top 15 states based on search interest for “women rehab”:
- Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Alabama each reached the peak score of 100, meaning they had the highest relative interest in “women rehab” nationwide.
- Mississippi followed at 91 — just 9% lower than the top states.
- Tennessee ranked fifth at 83, which is 17% below peak interest.
- Georgia and Louisiana tied at 66, showing a 34% lower interest level than the leaders.
- Arkansas, Arizona, and Virginia all scored 58 — 42% below the maximum but still among the highest in the country.
- South Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut, Indiana, and North Carolina each scored 50, indicating their search volume was 50% of the peak score.
- 10 of the top 15 states are in the South, which suggests higher awareness, stronger online engagement with the topic, or greater need.
- Compared to top-ranking states, interest in Illinois (25), Washington (25), and Wisconsin (16) was 75% or more lower.
When Are Women Seeking Addiction Help?
Google Trends data shows that interest in “women rehab” wasn’t steady. It peaked during certain periods. Here is the average weekly search interest score, going from low to high over the year:
- Interest was lowest in late September 2024, with a score of just 26 — 74% below the peak.
- Searches began rising sharply in mid-November and reached a major spike during the holiday season, with scores climbing from 77 on November 24 to 86 by mid-February 2025.
- The highest point occurred the week of March 2, 2025, with a perfect score of 100. This indicates a clear increase in help-seeking behavior right before spring.
- After January 2025, interest remained consistently high, never dipping below 51.
Regional Hotspots — Where Are Women Seeking Addiction Help Most?
8 of the top 10 states with the highest search interest in “women rehab” are located in the South or Southeast. This may hint at a geographic concentration of concern around women’s substance use in these areas.
These are regions where addiction treatment infrastructure may be under strain and where socioeconomic pressures, like poverty, rural isolation, and underinsurance, can increase substance dependency issues.
Here’s how the search interest breaks down regionally:
- Deep South — Oklahoma (100), Alabama (92), Mississippi (84), Louisiana (61), Arkansas (53)
- Southeast — Kentucky (92), Tennessee (76), Georgia (61), South Carolina (53), Virginia (53)
- Southwest and border states — Arizona (53), New Mexico (46), Texas (38)
In contrast, states in the Northeast, Midwest, and West, like New York, Massachusetts, and California, reported lower search volumes, each with a score of 30 or below.
This may be because of the higher concentration of rehab facilities in these states, according to a 2023 publication titled “State and Service Estimates of Substance Use Treatment Facilities That Receive Public Funds in the United States”.
Metro Areas With the Strongest Search Signals for “Women Rehab”
Between March 2024 and March 2025, smaller cities in the South consistently outpaced large urban centers in search interest for “women rehab.” Here are the top 10 metro areas based on Google Trends data:
Between March 2024 and March 2025, smaller cities in the South consistently outpaced large urban centers in search interest for “women rehab.” Here are the top 10 metro areas based on Google Trends data:
- Wilmington, NC, led with a score of 100, while the state of North Carolina averaged 50. That means Wilmington’s search interest was 100% higher than the state average.
- Mississippi scored 91 at the state level, and its capital city, Jackson, followed closely behind Wilmington at 85, hinting at intense search activity in the state.
- Alabama had two metro areas in the top 10: Birmingham (76) and Huntsville-Decatur (57).
- Tennessee saw wide variations in interest, with Chattanooga scoring 76, Nashville getting a 47, and Knoxville scoring less than 1.
- Oklahoma scored 100 at the state level and had two metros in the dataset: Tulsa at 76 and Oklahoma City at 52. That makes Tulsa’s search interest 46% higher than the state capital’s.
- Lexington, KY, scored 66, compared to Louisville’s 42, meaning Lexington had 57% higher search interest. This indicates a divide between metro and regional interest, even in states with the highest scores.
- Virginia’s Roanoke-Lynchburg scored 61, while Richmond trailed at 33, giving Roanoke an 85% higher interest score.
- Savannah, GA, (52) ranked in the top 10, while Atlanta, the state’s largest metro, only scored 33.
- In Texas, Waco-Temple-Bryan scored 47, which was more than 104% higher than Houston (23), Dallas-Fort Worth (19), Austin (19), and San Antonio (19). This suggests strong localized interest outside the state’s major metros.
- Hartford & New Haven, CT, scored 33, which is 34% lower than the statewide average of 50. This means more rural or non-metro areas might be driving Connecticut’s overall search interest.
- Los Angeles, CA, came in at 23. California averaged 41, showing a 43.9% lower search interest in LA compared to the state overall.
Outside the top 10, several interesting patterns emerged:
- Major metros like New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago scored just 19 or lower. Their low numbers suggest lower per-capita interest, possibly due to better in-person access to care.
- West Coast cities showed low interest: Seattle (14), San Francisco (19), Portland (19), and San Diego (28) all ranked well below national averages.
- Only one Florida metro — Jacksonville — scored as high as 23, while areas like West Palm Beach and Tampa scored 14 or less, despite Florida’s large population.
These metro-level gaps show how localized search behavior can be. Even in states with high overall interest, the areas doing most of the searching are often outside major cities.
Women in smaller or mid-sized metros may be turning to online resources more frequently, either due to a lack of local access, stigma, or a stronger push for information in tighter-knit communities.
What Does This Data Mean?
Google Trends can’t diagnose addiction, but it can show where women are struggling most. Here’s what the numbers mean:
- States with a lower number of treatment facilities, like Alabama (155), Arkansas (171), and Mississippi (105), are seeing an increase in searches for “women rehab.”
- California — despite having one of the highest populations and a large number of treatment centers (1,734) — scored only 38 in search interest. This may suggest better on-the-ground access to care.
- States with smaller populations and fewer urban centers — like Oklahoma — are generating higher search volumes per capita. This could suggest both unmet needs and a lack of visibility into care options.
- Major metros didn’t top the list. Instead, cities like Wilmington, NC (100) and Jackson, MS (85) had the highest interest levels in rehab for women. This implies that women in smaller cities may feel underserved by local rehab systems or more comfortable searching privately online.
- Urban centers like New York (19), Los Angeles (23), Houston (23), and Chicago (14) scored far below national leaders. Their search interest in rehabilitation for women was 81% lower than Wilmington, 66% lower than South Bend, and 54% lower than Chattanooga.
| Metro area | Score | State average | % difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington, NC | 100 | 50 | +100% |
| Jackson, MS | 85 | 91 | -6.6% |
| Chattanooga, TN | 75 | 83 | 8.4% |
| Lexington, KY | 66 | 100 | -34% |
| South Bend-Elkhart, IN | 66 | 50 | +32% |
What Does the Women Drug Addiction Situation Look Like on the Ground
Illicit drug use among women aged 18 to 49 varies widely across the U.S., and in some states, high usage rates match up closely with elevated online search interest for “women rehab.”
In others, a gap between real-world needs and online engagement suggests different access levels or awareness.
Here’s how the data compares:
Each of the top 10 Google Trends states has drug usage rates at or above the national average of 10.4% or within ± 2.5% of it. This suggests that in most cases, online search interest is tracking closely with actual need on the ground.
It also means that Google search behavior can work as an early signal of regions where addiction-related services may need to be expanded or more visibly promoted. Here are some data trends to look at:
- Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Mississippi have high drug use rates and high search interest, which suggests that public need is driving online behavior in real time.
- Mississippi has a women’s drug use rate 2.0% above the national average and a search score of 91, which indicates a clear demand for help.
- Louisiana and Arizona — both with 12.8%+ usage rates — also show high rehab search activity, which points to strong digital engagement in areas of real concern.
- Virginia, despite a usage rate below the national average (9.1% vs. 10.4%), still made the top 10 in search interest.
- Washington and California show high drug use rates among women but score surprisingly low in searches. This may mean that women in these states have more access to in-person help or are finding support through different channels.
| State | Drug use rate (women 18-49) | Google Trends score |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 10.2% | 100 |
| Kentucky | 10.8% | 100 |
| Alabama | 7.8% | 100 |
| Mississippi | 12.4% | 91 |
| Tennessee | 11.8% | 83 |
| Georgia | 7.7% | 66 |
| Louisiana | 12.9% | 66 |
| Arizona | 12.8% | 58 |
| Arkansas | 11.3% | 58 |
| Virginia | 9.1% | 58 |
Methodology
To identify which U.S. states show the highest interest in addiction treatment among women, we analyzed Google Trends data for the search term “women rehab” across all 50 states between March 26, 2024, and March 26, 2025.
Google assigns each state a score from 0 to 100 based on its relative share of search interest during the selected time period. A score of 100 represents the state with the highest proportion of searches, while other states are scaled accordingly. This approach helps highlight regional variations in online interest related to women’s rehabilitation services.
To support and validate these findings, we also referenced public health datasets, government reports, and academic studies related to drug use and addiction trends among women. These sources offer additional context on substance use prevalence, treatment needs, and behavioral health outcomes across different states and populations.
We view this combined data as a strong indicator of public awareness, concern, or demand related to women and addiction—useful for identifying geographic patterns that may warrant further investigation by journalists, public health officials, or advocacy groups.
Sources:
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2024-03-26%202025-03-26&geo=US&q=women%20rehab&hl=en
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/women18_49_IDU/OK
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/women18_49_IDU/KY
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/women18_49_IDU/MS
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wdr-2023-online-segment.html
https://www.addiction-ssa.org/features/blog/statistics-on-drinking-and-drug-use-among-women/
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