This page is general health information, not medical advice. It cannot tell you whether you have an infection. A clinician can, and the testing options on this site are a good place to start.

Sometimes you decide to get tested and want to go today, not in two weeks. Walk-in STD testing in Boston makes that possible, but only at some clinics and only during certain hours.

One thing to know first: none of the clinics below publishes a wait time. So no one can honestly rank them by minutes. What you can do is pick the clinic and the time slot that give you the best chance of a short visit. This guide shows you how.

What you need before you go

A phone. Hours change, and some clinics publish conflicting schedules. A two-minute call saves a wasted trip.
Photo ID, if you have one. Ask the clinic whether it is required. Codman Square Health Center says it offers testing and treatment regardless of citizenship status.
Your insurance card, if you have insurance. Fenway Health says it bills insurance if you have it. If you are uninsured, ask about free or sliding scale options.
A list of your questions. Examples: which infections are included, how results reach you, and what happens if a result needs follow-up.
A rough sense of your recent exposures. You do not need to share more than you want to, but the clinician can choose tests better with a few facts.
Time. Plan for more than a quick stop, even at a walk-in clinic.

Step 1: Know which Boston clinics actually take walk-ins

Walk-in means you can arrive without a booked time. Here is what each clinic has published, as of the latest information available to us.

Clinics that list walk-in hours

Fenway Health Sexual Health Clinic (1340 Boylston Street, 4th floor, 617-267-0159). Walk-in, first-come first-served: Tuesday 1 to 7 p.m., Wednesday 3 to 7 p.m., Thursday 3 to 7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. is by appointment only. Fenway's page says check-in closes 30 minutes before the end time. The clinic's page is aimed at gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, transgender and gender diverse people, and their partners.
X-Clinic at Codman Square Health Center (637 Washington St., Dorchester, 617-822-8350). Codman says Express visits, meaning no symptoms and no known exposure, are walk-in during operating hours. Telehealth and appointments are also offered. Codman's two pages list different schedules, so call to confirm before you go.
TrueCare@MAC testing, Multicultural AIDS Coalition (9 Palmer Street, Roxbury, 617-442-1622). Appointments are optional. MAC lists Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (testing 10:30 to 4), Wednesday 12 to 7 p.m. (testing 12:30 to 6), and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (testing 11:30 to 3). Sunday is not listed.

Clinics where walk-in is not confirmed

Boston STD Clinic at Boston Medical Center (725 Albany St., 9th Floor, Suite 9C, 617-414-2803). The clinic's page describes appointments by phone or MyChart and does not say whether walk-ins are accepted. Call first.
Boston Public Health Commission listing (774 Albany St, 617-534-3976). The CDC GetTested directory says no appointment is required but does not say walk-ins are accepted, and it lists no hours. This information comes from the CDC directory, not a BPHC page. Call first.
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Greater Boston Health Center (1055 Commonwealth Ave, 617-295-7235). The CDC GetTested listing says an appointment is required.
DotHouse Health (1353 Dorchester Avenue, 617-288-3230). The CDC listing says an appointment is required, while another local resource list mentions walk-in testing through urgent care. Because the sources disagree, call to ask.

Step 2: Choose a clinic and a time to shorten your wait

Since wait times are not published, use the published structure of each clinic to guess smartly.

Look at how long the walk-in window is. A clinic that is open for a long block, like Fenway on Tuesday afternoons and evenings, can spread people out. A short window, like Fenway's Friday morning, may fill faster. This is a reasonable inference, not a published fact.
Consider arriving early in the window. At a first-come, first-served clinic, the people already in line are seen first. Arriving near the start gives you a shorter line ahead of you.
Avoid the last hour. Fenway's check-in closes 30 minutes before the end time. Arriving close to that cutoff risks being turned away.
Ask by phone when it is usually quiet. Front desk staff often know. Ask, "Is there a day or time when walk-ins tend to be shorter?" They may or may not share, and that is fine.
Think about Saturday. MAC and Codman both list Saturday hours. Whether those hours are busier or quieter is not published, so treat it as an option, not a promise.

Step 3: Call ahead and confirm three things

Before you travel, ask these questions:

Are walk-ins being seen today, and until what time is check-in open?
Which tests are included for my situation? Boston Medical Center's page, for example, lists routine testing for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and hepatitis C.
What will it cost me, and who bills me? Fenway notes that Quest Labs bills insurance directly and that the patient is responsible for Quest charges. Uninsured patients can be seen free through grant funding. Ask the clinic what applies to you.

Step 4: Check in and say what you want to be tested for

At the desk, tell staff you are there for STD testing. You can say whether you have symptoms or a known exposure. At Codman, that detail matters, because Express visits are for people with no symptoms and no known exposure. Other visit types may follow a different process.

The clinician will talk with you about which tests fit your situation. The CDC STI Treatment Guidelines (2021) are the basis for how clinicians choose tests. They consider things like where exposure may have occurred, such as the throat, genitals or rectum, and how recent it was. Window periods, the time after an exposure when a test may not yet detect an infection, vary by infection and test. Ask the clinician about them, or read the CDC's pages.

Step 5: Plan for results

Walk-in does not always mean same-day results. Fenway says results come in 3 to 5 business days. Codman, Planned Parenthood and DotHouse list rapid HIV testing, which may give a faster answer for HIV specifically. A clinician can explain what a rapid test can and cannot tell you.

Before you leave, ask how you will hear back (phone, portal or in person) and what number to call if you do not.

What to expect afterward

Results can be negative, positive or need a repeat test. A negative result may mean the test did not detect that infection at that time. A clinician can tell you whether a repeat test is worth considering based on timing.

If a result is positive, bacterial infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, and trichomoniasis, are curable with treatment from a clinician. HIV, herpes and HPV are not curable, but they are treatable or manageable with care from a clinician. Prescribing decisions belong to the clinician who sees you.

Some clinics on this list also offer prevention services such as PrEP and PEP. Fenway also lists doxy-PEP, which CDC addressed in its 2024 guidance. Ask a clinician whether these options fit your situation.

Tips and common mistakes to avoid

Mistake: assuming every clinic accepts walk-ins. Several do not confirm it. Call first.
Mistake: arriving at closing time. Check-in can close before the doors do.
Mistake: trusting one schedule. Codman's two pages disagree. BMC's own page lists Tuesday in two ways. Phone confirmation matters.
Mistake: mixing up similar addresses. Boston Medical Center's clinic (725 Albany St.) and the Boston Public Health Commission listing (774 Albany St) are different providers on the same street.
Mistake: using an old address for MAC. One older listing shows a Dorchester address. Use 9 Palmer Street, Roxbury, as shown on MAC's page.
Tip: bring a book or headphones. Even a short wait can feel long when you are nervous.
Tip: go with a friend if that helps. Or go alone. Both are fine.

If you are under 18

The Massachusetts Legislature's M.G.L. c. 112, s. 12F says a minor who reasonably believes they are at risk of exposure through sexual activity may consent to care to diagnose or treat an STI, or for HIV prevention if sexually active, without a parent's consent. The City of Boston tells people 13 or older they can get a confidential STI test without parental permission. Codman also describes teen testing as confidential.

Under M.G.L. c. 111, s. 119, venereal disease reports and records are not public. They can be disclosed only on a judicial order or to officials whose duties entitle them. Ask the clinic how your visit and results are handled.

Why walk-in options matter in Boston

CDC county data, republished by Boston 25 News and Stacker in March 2024, put Suffolk County, which contains Boston, at 807.8 chlamydia cases per 100,000 people in 2021 (6,230 cases), the highest in Massachusetts. The same source lists gonorrhea at 298.0 per 100,000 (2,298 cases). These are county figures, not city-only numbers, and they come from a secondary source. They are one reason routine testing is common and clinics stay busy.

For a side-by-side look at costs and services, see our guide to where to get tested in Boston and what it costs. To see every clinic in one place, use the local testing list. You can also call the Mayor's Health Line at 617-534-5050 for free, confidential health information and referrals, or the BPHC Infectious Disease Bureau at 617-534-5395.

Walk-In STD Testing in Boston: Which Clinics Have the Shortest Waits