Overall numbers
- Prevalence: In 2021, 38.4 million Americans, or 11.6% of the population, had diabetes.
- 2 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, including about 304,000 children and adolescents
- Diagnosed and undiagnosed: Of the 38.4 million adults with diabetes, 29.7 million were diagnosed, and 8.7 million were undiagnosed.
- Prevalence in seniors: The percentage of Americans age 65 and older remains high, at 29.2%, or 16.5 million seniors (diagnosed and undiagnosed).
- New cases: 1.2 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year.
- Prediabetes: In 2021, 97.6 million Americans age 18 and older had prediabetes.
Diabetes in youth
- About 352,000 Americans under age 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes, approximately 0.35% of that population.
- In 2017–2018, the annual incidence of diagnosed diabetes in youth was estimated at 18,200 with type 1 diabetes, 5,300 with type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes by race/ethnicity
The rates of diagnosed diabetes in adults by race/ethnic background are:
- 13.6% of American Indians/Alaskan Native adults
- 12.1% of non-Hispanic Black adults
- 11.7% of Hispanic adults
- 9.1% of Asian American adults
- 6.9% of non-Hispanic White adults
The breakdown among Asian American adults:
- 12.2% of Filipino
- 10.8% of Asian Indian
- Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese prevalences range from 6.1-7.1%
- 8.9% of other Asian American groups
The breakdown among Hispanic adults:
- 13.3% Puerto Rican
- 11.1% Mexican or Mexican American
- 9.4% Dominican
- 9.0% Cuban
- Central American, South American, and other Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish adults had prevalences ranging from 5.0%-7.3%
Deaths
Diabetes was the eighth leading cause of death in the United States in 2021 based on the 103,294 death certificates in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death. In 2021, diabetes was mentioned as a cause of death in a total of 399,401 certificates.
Cost of diabetes
Updated November 2, 2023
$412.9 billion: Total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2022
$306.6 billion was for direct medical costs
$106.3 billion was in indirect costs
After adjusting for population age and sex differences, average medical expenditures among people with diagnosed diabetes were 2.6 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 2022."
Explore our infographic "The Staggering Cost of Diabetes” to uncover the massive financial impact of diabetes.
For additional information
For additional information, read the CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report.
