Overall numbers
(according to the ADA)

• Prevalence: In 2018, 34.2 million Americans, or 10.5% of the population, had diabetes.
  • Nearly 1.6 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, including about 187,000 children and adolescents
• Undiagnosed: Of the 34.2 million adults with diabetes, 26.8 million were diagnosed, and 7.3 million were undiagnosed.
• Prevalence in seniors: The percentage of Americans age 65 and older remains high, at 26.8%, or 14.3 million seniors (diagnosed and undiagnosed).
• New cases: 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year.
• Prediabetes: In 2015, 88 million Americans age 18 and older had prediabetes.

Diabetes in youth

• About 210,000 Americans under age 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes, approximately 0.25% of that population.
• In 2014—2015, the annual incidence of diagnosed diabetes in youth was estimated at 18,200 with type 1 diabetes, 5,800 with type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes by race/ethnicity

The rates of diagnosed diabetes in adults by race/ethnic background are:

• 7.5% of non-Hispanic whites
• 9.2% of Asian Americans
• 12.5% of Hispanics
• 11.7% of non-Hispanic blacks
• 14.7% of American Indians/Alaskan Natives

The breakdown among Asian Americans:

• 5.6% of Chinese
• 10.4% of Filipinos
• 12.6% of Asian Indians
• 9.9% of other Asian Americans

The breakdown among Hispanic adults:

• 8.3% of Central and South Americans
• 6.5% of Cubans
• 14.4% of Mexican Americans
• 12.4% of Puerto Ricans

Deaths

Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2017 based on the 83,564 death certificates in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death. In 2017, diabetes was mentioned as a cause of death in a total of 270,702 certificates.

Diabetes may be underreported as a cause of death. Studies have found that only about 35% to 40% of people with diabetes who died had diabetes listed anywhere on the death certificate and about 10% to 15% had it listed as the underlying cause of death.

Cost of diabetes

Updated March 22, 2018

$327 billion: Total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2017

$237 billion was for direct medical costs

$90 billion was in reduced productivity

After adjusting for population age and sex differences, average medical expenditures among people with diagnosed diabetes were 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.

Read more about the results of our study “Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017.”

For additional information

For additional information, read the CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020 or see the details below.

Fast Facts on Diabetes according to the CDC for 2020

Diabetes

• Total: 34.2 million people have diabetes (10.5% of the US population)
• Diagnosed: 26.9 million people, including 26.8 million adults
• Undiagnosed: 7.3 million people (21.4% are undiagnosed)

Prediabetes

• Total: 88 million people aged 18 years or older have prediabetes (34.5% of the adult US population)
• 65 years or older: 24.2 million people aged 65 years or older have prediabetes