For people ages 18 through 64 in a typical state, the percentage with diabetes may have increased to 10.78% in 2023, from 10.26% the year before.
But the median may have decreased from 11.93% in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic appeared, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey program.
One question is whether the decrease in 2023 will turn out to be real or whether it's the result of fewer people getting screened for diabetes.
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The reported rate ranged from 7.18%, in Massachusetts, up to more than 16% in three states and in Puerto Rico.
For a look at the five states with the diabetes rates for working-age adults, see the gallery above.
For data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, see the table below. (If Puerto Rico had been included in the gallery, it would have ranked first.)
Methods: The CDC breaks down data on diabetes levels for people under 18, people ages 65 and older, and four age groups from 18 through 64.We came up with a diabetes prevalence rate for working-age people by averaging the data for the age groups in that age range.
One benefit of using that approach is that it filters out the effects of the aging of the population, or other population trends, in a given state.
At press time, the CDC had not included data from Kentucky and Pennsylvania in the 2023 BRFSS results.
The impact: Any real, lasting decrease in the percentage of working-age people with diabetes could have a big effect on employer-sponsored health plans, because the plans spend more than $300 billion per year on hospital bills, physician services, supplies and other costs related directly to diabetes care, according to the CDC.
Packages containing about a month's supply of insulin now have a list price of about $100 to more than $500, according to GoodRx.
In a 2019 analysis of an employer plan's insulin costs, Milliman analysts implied that a typical hypothetical employer plan might get enough rebates to cut the plan's cost to about half of the list price, or roughly $100 to $400.
| Adults Ages 18-64 Who Have Diabetes | |||
| Diabetes | 2018 | 2023 | Change, in percentage points |
| Alabama | 11.93% | 13.33% | +1.40 |
| Alaska | 12.75% | 9.50% | -3.25 |
| Arizona | 10.00% | 10.00% | 0 |
| Arkansas | 11.93% | 15.90% | +3.98 |
| California | 12.75% | 10.08% | -2.68 |
| Colorado | 10.00% | 9.40% | -0.60 |
| Connecticut | 11.93% | 9.73% | -2.19 |
| Delaware | 12.75% | 13.47% | +0.72 |
| District of Columbia | 10.00% | 12.00% | +2.00 |
| Florida | 11.93% | 11.70% | -0.23 |
| Georgia | 12.75% | 10.35% | -2.40 |
| Hawaii | 10.00% | 9.08% | -0.93 |
| Idaho | 11.93% | 8.18% | -3.75 |
| Illinois | 12.75% | 10.65% | -2.10 |
| Indiana | 10.00% | 11.05% | +1.05 |
| Iowa | 11.93% | 9.35% | -2.58 |
| Kansas | 12.75% | 10.45% | -2.30 |
| Kentucky | 10.00% | NA | - |
| Louisiana | 11.93% | 16.57% | +4.64 |
| Maine | 12.75% | 10.80% | -1.95 |
| Maryland | 10.00% | 10.25% | +0.25 |
| Massachusetts | 11.93% | 7.18% | -4.75 |
| Michigan | 12.75% | 10.38% | -2.38 |
| Minnesota | 10.00% | 8.90% | -1.10 |
| Mississippi | 11.93% | 14.75% | +2.83 |
| Missouri | 12.75% | 12.77% | +0.02 |
| Montana | 10.00% | 7.53% | -2.48 |
| Nebraska | 11.93% | 9.58% | -2.35 |
| Nevada | 12.75% | 16.25% | +3.50 |
| New Hampshire | 10.00% | 11.60% | +1.60 |
| New Jersey | 11.93% | 8.10% | -3.83 |
| New Mexico | 12.75% | 12.20% | -0.55 |
| New York | 10.00% | 8.65% | -1.35 |
| North Carolina | 11.93% | 13.77% | +1.84 |
| North Dakota | 12.75% | 8.48% | -4.28 |
| Ohio | 10.00% | 11.08% | +1.08 |
| Oklahoma | 11.93% | 11.03% | -0.90 |
| Oregon | 12.75% | 9.63% | -3.13 |
| Pennsylvania | 10.00% | NA | - |
| Puerto Rico | 11.93% | 17.13% | +5.21 |
| Rhode Island | 12.75% | 10.77% | -1.98 |
| South Carolina | 10.00% | 12.30% | +2.30 |
| South Dakota | 11.93% | NA | - |
| Tennessee | 12.75% | 12.05% | -0.70 |
| Texas | 10.00% | 10.95% | +0.95 |
| Utah | 11.93% | 7.45% | -4.48 |
| Vermont | 12.75% | 7.30% | -5.45 |
| Virginia | 10.00% | 11.60% | +1.60 |
| Washington | 11.93% | 8.15% | -3.78 |
| West Virginia | 12.75% | 14.58% | +1.83 |
| Wisconsin | 10.00% | 11.70% | +1.70 |
| Wyoming | 11.93% | 11.00% | -0.93 |
| MEDIAN | 11.93% | 10.78% | -1.14 |
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
