In 2022–2023, current contraceptive use varied by age and race and Hispanic origin.

• In 2022–2023, 54.3% of females ages 15–49 were currently using a method of contraception (Figure 1, Table 1).
• Current contraceptive use increased with age: 25.5% among females ages 15–19, 52.4% among women ages 20–29, 59.8% among women ages 30–39, and 64.9% among women ages 40–49.
• A higher percentage of White non-Hispanic (subsequently, White) females were currently using contraception (58.7%) compared with Black non-Hispanic (subsequently, Black) (47.8%) and Hispanic (52.2%) females.
• The observed differences in current contraceptive use by education were not significant.

Figure 1

Percentage of females ages 15–49 who were currently using any contraceptive method, by age group, race and Hispanic origin, and education: United States, 2022–2023.

Data table for Figure 1

Percentage of females ages 15–49 who were currently using any contraceptive method, by age group, race and Hispanic origin, and education: United States, 2022–2023.

Female sterilization, the pill, the male condom, and long-acting reversible contraceptives were the most common methods females reported currently using in 2022–2023.

• The most common contraceptive methods currently used among females ages 15–49 were female sterilization (11.5%), the pill (11.4%), long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) (10.5%), and the male condom (7.1%) (Figure 2, Table 2).
• In 2022–2023, 45.8% of females ages 15–49 were not currently using contraception, including for reasons such as seeking pregnancy, being pregnant or postpartum, or not being sexually active.
• Nearly one in four females (22.4%) were not using contraception because they had never had sexual intercourse or did not have sexual intercourse in the past 3 months.

Figure 2

Percent distribution of females ages 15–49, by current contraceptive status: United States, 2022–2023.

Data table for Figure 2

Percent distribution of females ages 15–49, by current contraceptive status: United States, 2022–2023.

Current use of female sterilization, the pill, the male condom, and LARCs varied by age.

• Female sterilization increased with increasing age: About 1 in 4 women ages 40–49 were using female sterilization for contraception (26.4%) compared with about 1 in 10 women ages 30–39 (11.9%) (Figure 3, Table 3).
• Pill use generally decreased with increasing age: The percentages for women ages 15–19 (14.2%) and 20–29 (16.8%) were higher than for women ages 30–39 (9.0%) and 40–49 (6.9%).
• Male condom use increased from 2.2% among females ages 15–19 to 8.4% and 9.6% among those ages 20–39 and 30–39, respectively, and then declined to 5.3% among those ages 40–49.
• Use of LARCs increased from 4.6% among females ages 15–19 to 13.8% and 12.4% among women ages 20–29 and 30–39, respectively, and then declined to 8.1% among women ages 40–49.

Figure 3

Percentage of females ages 15–49 who were currently using female sterilization, oral contraceptive pills, the male condom, or long-acting reversible contraceptives, by age group: United States, 2022–2023.

Data table for Figure 3

Percentage of females ages 15–49 who were currently using female sterilization, oral contraceptive pills, the male condom, or long-acting reversible contraceptives, by age group: United States, 2022–2023.

Current use of the pill and LARCs varied by race and Hispanic origin.

• The observed difference in female sterilization among Black (14.3%), White (11.7%), and Hispanic (12.4%) females was not significant (Figure 4, Table 4).
• Current use of the pill was higher among White females (14.1%) than among Hispanic (9.1%) and Black (6.7%) females.
• The observed differences in male condom use among Black (5.4%), White (5.8%), and Hispanic (7.8%) females were not significant.
• Current use of LARCs was significantly lower for Black females (8.1%) compared with White females (11.6%).

Figure 4

Percentage of females ages 15–49 who were currently using female sterilization, oral contraceptive pills, the male condom, or long-acting reversible contraceptives, by race and Hispanic origin: United States, 2022–2023.

Data table for Figure 4

Percentage of females ages 15–49 who were currently using female sterilization, oral contraceptive pills, the male condom, or long-acting reversible contraceptives, by race and Hispanic origin: United States, 2022–2023.

Current use of female sterilization, the pill, the male condom, and LARCs varied by education.

• Among women ages 22–49, female sterilization declined with higher education, from 27.4% among women without a high school diploma or GED to 6.0% of women with a bachelor’s degree or higher (Figure 5, Table 5).
• Current pill use increased with higher education, from 2.5% of women without a high school diploma or GED to 12.7% of women with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• Current male condom use was higher for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher (11.0%) compared with those with no high school diploma or GED (6.6%), a high school diploma or GED (4.7%), and some college but no bachelor’s degree (5.7%).
• Current use of LARCs increased with higher education, from 9.1% among women without a high school diploma or GED to 13.6% among women with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Figure 5

Percentage of women ages 22–49 who were currently using female sterilization, oral contraceptive pills, the male condom, or long-acting reversible contraceptives, by education: United States, 2022–2023.

Data table for Figure 5

Percentage of women ages 22–49 who were currently using female sterilization, oral contraceptive pills, the male condom, or long-acting reversible contraceptives, by education: United States, 2022–2023.

Summary

In 2022–2023, about 54% of females ages 15–49 were currently using some type of contraceptive method. Current use of any method of contraception was higher among older females and White females compared with younger females and Hispanic and Black females. The most commonly used methods were female sterilization (11.5%), the pill (11.4%), LARCs (10.5%), and the male condom (7.1%). Current use of female sterilization and the male condom varied by age and education. Current use of the pill and LARCs varied by age, race and Hispanic origin, and education.

Understanding variation in contraceptive use across social and demographic characteristics offers potential insight into larger fertility patterns, including birth rates and incidence of unintended pregnancies. The chance that a sexually active female not seeking a pregnancy will have an unintended pregnancy varies by whether any method of contraception is used and which method she or her partner uses (2).

Definitions

Current contraceptive status: Contraceptive status in the month of the survey, not necessarily at a specific act of sexual intercourse (recode variable CONSTAT1). This variable includes either use of specific methods or, if the woman did not use a method in the month of survey, nonuse of contraceptive methods with the following subcategories: pregnant, seeking pregnancy, postpartum, noncontraceptive sterility, no sexual activity with a male partner (ever or in the past 3 months), or sexually active in the past 3 months and no method used in the current month. In this report, as in previous NSFG reports, females who were currently using more than one method are classified by the method that was most effective in preventing pregnancy, because that method has the greatest impact on their risk of unintended pregnancy (2). In 2022–2023, 22.1% of females who were currently using contraception used more than one contraceptive method during the same month.

Education: Highest degree attained or grade finished at the time of the survey (recode variable HIEDUC). Results by education are presented only for women ages 22–49, as many younger females have not completed their education.

Race and Hispanic origin: The 1997 Office of Management and Budget guidelines for the presentation of race and origin data in federal statistics are used for these classifications (3). Recode variable HISPRACE2 categorizes respondents as Hispanic; White non-Hispanic, single race; Black non-Hispanic, single race; and non-Hispanic other or multiple races. Given the wide variety of females categorized as non-Hispanic other or multiple races, this category is not presented separately in the report.

Data source and methods

This report is based on data from the 5,586 females surveyed in the 2022–2023 NSFG and is an update of an earlier report (4). Details about the survey content, administration, response rates, planning, and funding can be found in the documentation on the NSFG website (5,6). All estimates in this report are representative of the household population of females ages 15–49 of the United States in 2022, except those for education, which are representative of women ages 22–49 (5).

Statistics for this report were produced using SAS-callable SUDAAN software version 11.0.3 to account for the complex sample design of NSFG. Differences between percentages were evaluated using two-tailed t tests at the 5% level. No adjustments were made for multiple comparisons. Survey clusters minus strata were used as the degrees of freedom for significance testing of pairwise comparisons. Linear and quadratic trends by age and education were evaluated using orthogonal polynomials. Statistical power to detect differences between groups was limited for some comparisons. The data presented in this report are bivariate associations that may be explained by other factors not controlled for in the figures or included in the report. Due to the change in survey design to multimode and lower response due to a number of factors (5), comparisons of these results with previous NSFG data releases should be made with caution. All estimates presented meet National Center for Health Statistics guidelines for presentation of proportions (7).

About the author(s)

Kimberly Daniels and Joyce C. Abma are with the National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health Interview Statistics.

References

1.

Daniels K, Abma JC. Contraceptive methods women have ever used: United States, 2015–2019. Natl Health Stat Rep. 2023 Dec 14;(195):1–18. DOI: https://dx​.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:134502.

2.

Sundaram A, Vaughan B, Kost K, Bankole A, Finer L, Singh S, Trussell J. Contraceptive failure in the United States: Estimates from the 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2017 Mar;49(1):7–16. DOI: https://doi​.org/10.1363/psrh.12017.

3.

Office of Management and Budget. Revisions to the standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity. Fed Regist. 1997 Oct 30;62(210):58782–90. Available from: https://www​.govinfo.gov​/content/pkg/FR-1997-10-30​/pdf/97-28653.pdf.

4.

Daniels K, Abma JC. Current contraceptive status among women aged 15–49: United States, 2017–2019. NCHS Data Brief. 2020 Oct;(388):1–8. PMID: 33151146.

5.

National Center for Health Statistics. Public-use data file documentation: 2022–2023 National Survey of Family Growth, user’s guide. 2024. Available from: https://www​.cdc.gov/nchs​/data/nsfg/guidefaqs​/NSFG-2022-2023-UsersGuide-revJuly2025.pdf.

6.

National Center for Health Statistics. 2022–2023 National Survey of Family Growth: Public-use data files, codebooks, and documentation. 2024. Available from: https://www​.cdc.gov/nchs​/nsfg/nsfg-2022-2023-puf.htm.

7.

Parker JD, Talih M, Malec DJ, Beresovsky V, Carroll M, Gonzalez JF, et al. National Center for Health Statistics data presentation standards for proportions. Vital Health Stat 2. 2017 Aug;(175):1–22. PMID: 30248016.

National Center for Health Statistics

Brian C. Moyer, Ph.D., Director

Amy M. Branum, Ph.D., Associate Director for Science

Division of Health Interview Statistics

Stephen J. Blumberg, Ph.D., Director

Anjel Vahratian, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Director for Science

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Daniels K, Abma JC. Current contraceptive status among females ages 15–49: United States, 2022–2023. NCHS Data Brief. 2025 Aug;(539):1–11. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc/174618. [PMC free article]