HIV testing in North Carolina — where to get tested, free options, what to expect
The number
1,500 new HIV diagnoses in North Carolina in 2022, 61% among Black residents — all preventable with timely testing and linkage to PrEP.
Ryan White Part B
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Branch
State ADAP
North Carolina AIDS Drug Assistance Program (NC-ADAP)
Income cap 300% FPL
State PrEP-DAP
Not operated; federal Ready Set PrEP applies
Where to get tested in North Carolina
36,500 people are living with HIV in North Carolina, and 61% of new diagnoses in 2022 were among Black residents. Getting tested is the first step — the CDC recommends at least one HIV test for every adult 13-64, and annual testing for anyone sexually active with more than one partner or injecting drugs. Rapid tests return results in about 20 minutes from a fingerstick; laboratory tests take a few days but catch infections sooner after exposure (as early as 10 days with a nucleic-acid test).
Where to test for free in North Carolina: every county health department runs an STI / HIV testing clinic, and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Branch contracts with community-based organizations to operate walk-in rapid testing with evening and Saturday hours. No ID or insurance is required at these sites. Confidentiality is protected — state law requires public-health HIV testing results to stay out of your medical record unless you authorize release, and anonymous testing (no name collected) is available at most community sites.
What to expect: a pre-test conversation about risk and what a positive result would mean, the test itself (either fingerstick or blood draw), and post-test counseling. If the rapid test is reactive, the counselor draws blood for a confirmatory Western blot or antigen/antibody test. If you're positive, you'll be linked to a Ryan White Part C clinic for same-week HIV primary care and ADAP enrollment if you qualify by income.
The North Carolina HIV info line is 1-919-733-7301; staff can point you to the nearest free testing site, schedule PrEP, and help you navigate insurance or no-insurance options. Long-time Black residents name UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic and RAIN (Regional AIDS Interfaith Network) as the local institutions that show up consistently — both are listed below.
UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic. The UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic in Chapel Hill is the Ryan White Part C grantee for central North Carolina, serving about 2,400 people living with HIV; UNC is the training home for the NC AIDS Training and Education Center, which certifies HIV primary-care providers across the state.
RAIN (Regional AIDS Interfaith Network). RAIN in Charlotte is a Ryan White Part B case-management contractor for the western half of North Carolina and operates the state's only faith-community-partnered HIV program, serving roughly 1,200 clients across Mecklenburg, Gaston, Union, and Iredell counties.
For Black families in North Carolina
The South carries the heaviest HIV burden in the country: Black Southern residents make up roughly 14% of the U.S. population but account for more than half of new Black HIV diagnoses nationally. In North Carolina, 61% of new 2022 HIV diagnoses were among Black residents. That figure reflects unequal access to testing more than underlying risk: a Black person in North Carolina waits longer for an HIV diagnosis on average than a white peer, and late diagnoses translate directly into later treatment starts and worse outcomes. The community organizations listed below — particularly those flagged as Black-community anchors on the directory — operate rapid-testing sites specifically designed to close that wait-time gap.
Named HIV testing + PrEP sites in North Carolina
UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic
Chapel Hill, NC • 1-919-966-4000
RAIN — Regional AIDS Interfaith Network Charlotte
Charlotte, NC • 1-704-372-7246
Rosedale Health & Wellness Center — Charlotte
Charlotte, NC • 1-704-948-8582
Alliance of AIDS Services Carolina — Raleigh
Raleigh, NC • 1-919-834-2437
Southerners on New Ground (SONG) Health Testing Events — Durham
Raleigh, NC • 1-404-549-8645
Winston-Salem State University — North Carolina AIDS Education & Training Center
Winston-Salem, NC • 1-336-716-2011
Guilford County Division of Public Health — Sexual Health Clinic
Greensboro, NC • 1-336-641-3245
Where to get help in North Carolina
- North Carolina HIV info line: 1-919-733-7301 — staff can find the nearest free testing site, schedule PrEP, or help enroll you in ADAP.
- North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Branch landing page: https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/hiv.html.
- Federally Qualified Health Centers in North Carolina: every FQHC offers sliding-scale HIV testing and has certified application counselors on staff. See our FQHC directory for the state at /clinics/nc/.
- State health data for North Carolina: for state-level HIV mortality, maternal health, and life-expectancy context by race, see /health/north-carolina/.
- North Carolina Medicaid: Medicaid is the largest single payer of HIV care in most states. See /medicaid/north-carolina/ for eligibility + enrollment.
- CDC NPIN testing-site finder: gettested.cdc.gov accepts a zip code and returns every free + low-cost HIV testing site within 50 miles.
References & primary sources
- North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Branch: https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/hiv.html.
- CDC HIV Surveillance Report 2022: cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html. Source for state-level new diagnoses and race-stratified counts.
- HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantee list: ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/grants/part-b.
- NASTAD ADAP Monitoring Project 2024 Annual Report: nastad.org/adap-monitoring-project. Source for ADAP income cap + enrollment + PrEP-DAP data.
- AIDSVu state profile: aidsvu.org/state/north-carolina/.
Data refreshed: