OBJECTIVES: To examine the geographic, age and racial variation in the prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the U.S. veteran population. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with SLE (International Classification of Disease 9thRevision Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis code 710.0) were included in a retrospective study (October 1, 2005 - May 31, 2012) conducted using the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Medical SAS Datasets. Disease prevalence was stratified by state, age and race for all the patients, and each category was then carefully studied. Descriptive statistics were calculated as means ± standard deviation (SD) and percentages to measure the prevalence in the sample. RESULTS: A total of 13,257 veterans were diagnosed with SLE in 2011. For SLE patients between ages 35 and 54, prevalence was the highest at 0.11%, followed by patients age 55 to 64 at 0.07%.  Patients age 18-25 and 65+ had SLE prevalence of 0.03%, and the median prevalence (0.06%) was observed in patients age 26-34. Prevalence by race was also examined: Non-Hispanic Black (0.16%), Hispanic (0.07%), Non-Hispanic White (0.05%) and other races (0.04%). Geographic variation was examined and the highest SLE prevalence was observed in Georgia and Alabama (both 0.11%), followed by Arizona, New Hampshire, Maryland, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia (all 0.08%). CONCLUSIONS: There is statistical evidence that middle-aged patients have a higher probability to be diagnosed with SLE, and younger and elderly patients have a relatively smaller probability. Stratified by race, black, Hispanic and white patients were more likely to be diagnosed with SLE compared to other races. Statistical results also show that patients living in the Southeastern are of the United States had a higher risk of SLE diagnosis.