Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes

Report Pages
  1. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017
  2. Prevalence of Both Diagnosed and Undiagnosed Diabetes
  3. Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes
  4. Incidence of Diagnosed Diabetes
  5. Prevalence of Prediabetes
  6. Risk Factors for Complications
  7. Coexisting Conditions and Complications
  8. Deaths and Cost
  9. Appendix
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Among people of all ages, 2015 data indicated the following:

  • An estimated 23.1 million people—or 7.2% of the U.S. population—had diagnosed diabetes (Methods) (see Table 1b in the Appendix for more details).
  • This total included:
    • 132,000 children and adolescents younger than age 18 years (0.18% of the total U.S. population younger than age 18 years).
    • 193,000 children and adolescents younger than age 20 years (0.24% of the total U.S. population younger than age 20 years).
  • About 5% of people with diabetes are estimated to have type 1 diabetes (Methods).

Among U.S. adults aged 18 years or older, age-adjusted data for 2013–2015 indicated the following:

  • American Indians/Alaska Natives had the highest prevalence of diagnosed diabetes for both men (14.9%) and women (15.3%) (Figure 1) (Methods). Prevalence varied by region, from 6.0% among Alaska Natives to 22.2% among American Indians in certain areas of the Southwest.
  • Overall, prevalence was higher among American Indians/Alaska Natives (15.1%), non-Hispanic blacks (12.7%), and people of Hispanic ethnicity (12.1%) than among non-Hispanic whites (7.4%) and Asians (8.0%) (see Table 1c in the Appendix for more details).
  • Among people of Hispanic ethnicity, Mexicans had the highest prevalence (13.8%), followed by Puerto Ricans (12.0%), Cubans (9.0%), and Central/South Americans (8.5%) (see Table 1c in the Appendix for more details).
  • Among Asians, Asian Indians had the highest prevalence (11.2%), followed by Filipinos (8.9%), and Chinese (4.3%). Other Asian groups had a prevalence of 8.5% (see Table 1c in the Appendix for more details).
  • Prevalence varied significantly by education level, which is an indicator of socioeconomic status. Specifically, 12.6% of adults with less than a high school education had diagnosed diabetes versus 9.5% of those with a high school education and 7.2% of those with more than a high school education (see Table 1c in the Appendix for more details).

Figure 1. Estimated age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes by race/ethnicity and sex among adults aged ≥18 years, United States, 2013–2015

Bar chart. American Indian and Alaska Native men make up 14.9% and women 15.3%. Asian men make up 9% and women 7.3%. Black, non-Hispanic men make up 12.2% and women 13.2%. Hispanic men make up 12.6% and women 11.7%. White, non-Hispanic men make up 8.1% and women 6.8%.

AI/AN = American Indian/Alaska Native.

Note: Error bars represent upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval.

Data source: 2013–2015 National Health Interview Survey, except American Indian/Alaska Native data, which are from the 2015 Indian Health Service National Data Warehouse.

Figure 2 shows model-based county-level estimates of the age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among U.S. adults aged 20 years or older in 2013 (Methods). Specifically, this figure shows that:

  • The median age-adjusted county-level prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was 9.4%, with a range of 3.8% to 20.8%.
  • Counties in the southern and Appalachian regions of the United States tended to have the highest prevalence of diagnosed diabetes.

Figure 2. Age-adjusted, county-level prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among adults aged ≥20 years,
United States, 2013

U.S. map displaying 2013 Diagnosed Diabetes Prevalence. Details can be found in the lik below this image.

Data source: United States Diabetes Surveillance System. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/atlas/countydata/atlas.html.

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Page last reviewed: February 2, 2018
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention