Diabetes Facts

Diabetes Facts
by the Numbers

Prevalence of both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes

Among the U.S. population overall, crude estimates for 2021 were:

38.4 million people of all ages—or 11.6% of the U.S. population—had diabetes.

Diagnosed: 29.7 million people, including 29.4 million adults

38.1 million adults aged 18 years or older—or 14.7% of all U.S. adults—had diabetes.

8.7 million adults aged 18 years or older who met laboratory criteria for diabetes were not aware of or did not report having diabetes. This number represents 3.4% of all U.S. adults and 22.8% of all U.S. adults with diabetes.

The percentage of adults with diabetes increased with age, reaching 29.2% among those aged 65 years or older.

Prevalence of prediabetes among adults

An estimated 97.6 million adults aged 18 years or older had prediabetes in 2021.

65 years or older: 27.2 million people aged 65 years or older (48.8%) have prediabetes

Among U.S. adults aged 18 years or older, crude estimates for 2017–2020 were:

38.0% of all U.S. adults had prediabetes, based on their fasting glucose or A1C level).

19.0% of adults with prediabetes reported being told by a health professional that they had this condition.

Among U.S. adults aged 18 years or older, age-adjusted data for 2017–2020 indicated:

10.8% of adults had prediabetes, based on both elevated fasting plasma glucose and A1C levels.

A higher percentage of men (41.0%) than women (32.0%) had prediabetes, based on their fasting glucose or A1C level.

Prevalence of prediabetes (based on fasting glucose or A1C level) was similar among all racial and ethnic groups and education levels.

Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes

Among the U.S. population overall, crude estimates for 2021 were:

29.7 million people of all ages—or 8.9% of the U.S. population—had diagnosed diabetes.

352,000 children and adolescents younger than age 20 years—or 35 per 10,000 U.S. youths—had diagnosed diabetes. This includes 304,000 with type 1 diabetes.

1.7 million adults aged 20 years or older—or 5.7% of all U.S. adults with diagnosed diabetes—reported both having type 1 diabetes and using insulin.

3.6 million adults aged 20 years or older—or 12.3% of all U.S. adults with diagnosed diabetes—started using insulin within a year of their diagnosis.

Among U.S. adults aged 18 years or older, age-adjusted data for 2019–2021 indicated the following:

For both men and women, prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was highest among American Indian and Alaska Native adults (13.6%), followed by non-Hispanic Black adults (12.1%), adults of Hispanic origin (11.7%), non-Hispanic Asian adults (9.1%) and non-Hispanic White adults (6.9%).

Prevalence varied significantly by education level, which is an indicator of socioeconomic status. Specifically, 13.1% of adults with less than a high school education had diagnosed diabetes versus 9.1% of those with a high school education and 6.9% of those with more than a high school education.

Adults with family income above 500% of the federal poverty level had the lowest prevalence for both men (6.3%) and women (3.9%).

For both men and women, prevalence was higher among adults living in nonmetropolitan areas compared to those in metropolitan areas.

Costs

The total direct and indirect estimated costs* of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2022 was $413 billion.

Total direct estimated costs of diagnosed diabetes increased from $227 billion in 2012 to $307 billion in 2022 (2022 dollars). Total indirect costs increased from $89 billion to $106 billion in the same period (2022 dollars).

From 2012 to 2022, excess medical costs per person associated with diabetes increased from $10,179 to $12,022 (2022 dollars).

* Direct costs = medical costs; indirect costs = lost productivity from work-related absenteeism, reduced productivity at work and at home, unemployment from chronic disability, and premature mortality.

Deaths

In 2021, diabetes was the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. This finding is based on 103,294 death certificates in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death (crude rate, 31.1 per 100,000 people).

In 2021, there were 399,401 death certificates with diabetes listed as the underlying or contributing cause of death (crude rate, 120.3 per 100,000 people).

Emergency Department Visits

In 2020, about 16.8 million emergency department visits were reported with diabetes as any listed diagnosis among adults aged 18 years or older, including:

267,000 for hyperglycemic crisis (11.4 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

202,000 for hypoglycemia (8.6 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

Hospitalizations

In 2020, a total of 7.86 million hospital discharges were reported with diabetes as any listed diagnosis among U.S. adults aged 18 years or older (335.4 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

These discharges included:

1.68 million for major cardiovascular diseases (71.6 per 1,000 adults with diabetes), including:

368,000 for ischemic heart disease (15.7 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

321,000 for stroke (13.7 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

160,000 for a lower-extremity amputation (6.8 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

232,000 for hyperglycemic crisis (9.9 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

51,000 for hypoglycemia (2.2 per 1,000 adults with diabetes).

Overweight & Obesity

89.8% were overweight or had obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m² or higher.

Specifically:

26.9% were overweight (BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m²).

47.1% had obesity (BMI of 30.0 to 39.9 kg/m²).

15.7% had extreme obesity (BMI of 40.0 kg/m² or higher).

High Blood Pressure

80.6% had a systolic blood pressure of 130 mmHg or higher or diastolic blood pressure of 80 mmHg or higher or were on prescription medication for their high blood pressure.

70.8% had a systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg or higher or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or higher or were on prescription medication for their high blood pressure.

High Cholesterol

39.5% had a non-HDL level of 130 mg/dL or higher.

Specifically:

19.9% had a non-HDL level of 130 to 159 mg/dL.

11.5% had a non-HDL level of 160 to 189 mg/dL.

8.0% had a non-HDL level of 190 mg/dL or higher.

* Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL) contains all the atherogenic lipoproteins, including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), very-low-density lipoprotein, lipoprotein(a), and others. Growing evidence supports non-HDL as a better predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than LDL.

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