South Carolina ranks tenth in the nation in Ozempic spending, new study claims
(WCIV) — South Carolina ranks tenth in the nation for largest share of annual income spent on GLP-1s like Ozempic, according to a new study.
LendingTree subsidiary ValuePenguin claims that the median South Carolina household would spend over 8% of its income for a 2mg dose of the weight loss drug, with a yearly cost of $5,988 at $499 per month. For lower doses dropping the monthly cost to $349 per month, Ozempic would take about 5.8% of household incomes in the state, according to the study.
The median household income for South Carolina was $66,818 between 2019-2023, according to the US Census Bureau. Just over 10% of residents under the age of 65 lived with disabilities and 11% did not have health insurance during that same time frame.
South Carolina ranked #21 amongst the contiguous United States in obesity prevalence at 34.6 in 2024, when at least 1 in 4 adults in all US states and territories had obesity, according to findings released by the Centers for Disease Control in 2025.
In 2024,, the South Carolina Department of Public Health identified the state as one of 23 with an overall adult obesity rate at or above 35%, with 36% of South Carolina adults dealing with obesity.
The costs associated with GLP-1s are a “key contributor” to the 21% increase in health insurance premiums the state is seeing in 2026, according to a separate ValuePenguin study.
The LendingTree subsidiary said that 58% of Americans who are taking GLP-1s struggle to afford them, and a further 55% who know about GLP-1s say they would likely take Ozempic for weight loss if it were fully covered by insurance.
