10 Worst States for Diabetes Now

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Many clients are heading into 2024 with diabetes weighing them down.

The newest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures available show that, in 2022, 11.6% of all U.S. adults reported that they had been told they had diabetes.

That was up from 11% the year before; up from 10.8% in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began, and up from 9.8% a decade earlier, in 2012.

For a look at the 10 states with the highest overall diabetes rate, see the gallery above.

For data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, see the table below.

What it means: Having diabetes means that your clients are at increased risk of disability or death due to other causes, including COVID-19, and it means that they must budget for increased testing and health care costs in everyday life; increased risk of premature mortality; and the possibility that they may need extra services and support later in life, while possibly having less access than other clients to products such as long-term care insurance and whole life insurance.

Clients with diabetes may have extra access to attractively priced, medically underwritten annuities designed for people with a shorter-than-average life expectancies.

The data: The numbers here come from a CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System program’s chronic health indicators table that was released in September.

The CDC began the BRFSS program in 1984. The survey team conducts more than 400,000 interviews per year.

The fine details: Diabetes prevalence is lower for higher-income, better-educated people than for the general population, but the trends are similar for members of higher socioeconomic status groups.

For U.S. residents with a college degree, for example, the diabetes rate in a typical state increased to 8.5% in 2022, from 7.8% the year before, and from 6.8% in 2012..............

State
2012
2017
2019
2021
2022
CHANGE, 2012-2022

..Alabama
..12.3%
..14.1%
..14.0%
..15.1%
..15.5%
..+3.2%

..Alaska
..7.0%
..7.4%
..7.3%
..8.3%
..8.7%
..+1.7%

..Arizona
..10.6%
..10.4%
..10.9%
..11.0%
..12.7%
..+2.1%

..Arkansas
..11.3%
..12.2%
..13.6%
..12.5%
..15.7%
..+4.4%

..California
..9.8%
..10.5%
..10.1%
..11.6%
..11.5%
..+1.7%

..Colorado
..7.4%
..7.4%
..7.0%
..7.0%
..8.1%
..+0.7%

..Connecticut
..9.2%
..9.8%
..9.6%
..10.8%
..10.7%
..+1.5%

..Delaware
..9.6%
..11.3%
..12.8%
..12.0%
..13.9%
..+4.3%

..District of ..Columbia
..8.2%
..7.5%
..8.7%
..7.7%
..8.0%
..-0.2%

..Florida
..11.4%
..10.6%
..11.7%
NA
..12.2%
..+0.8%

..Georgia
..9.9%
..11.4%
..12.0%
..12.3%
..12.1%
..+2.2%

..Hawaii
..7.8%
..10.9%
..10.5%
..9.5%
..11.7%
..+3.9%

..Idaho
..8.5%
..8.7%
..10.3%
..9.8%
..9.9%
..+1.4%

..Illinois
..9.4%
..11.0%
..11.3%
..10.8%
..12.0%
..+2.6%

..Indiana
..10.9%
..11.8%
..12.4%
..12.1%
..12.7%
..+1.8%

..Iowa
..9.7%
..9.6%
..10.3%
..9.7%
..11.6%
..+1.9%

..Kansas
..9.4%
..10.5%
..10.8%
..11.1%
..11.4%
..+2.0%

..Kentucky
..10.7%
..12.8%
..13.3%
..13.8%
..14.8%
..+4.1%

..Louisiana
..12.3%
..13.6%
..12.6%
..13.6%
..14.7%
..+2.4%

..Maine
..9.7%
..10.7%
..10.6%
..10.4%
..11.1%
..+1.4%

..Maryland
..10.2%
..10.4%
..11.0%
..11.1%
..12.0%
..+1.8%

..Massachusetts
..8.3%
..9.5%
..8.4%
..8.9%
..10.5%
..+2.2%

..Michigan
..10.5%
..11.0%
..11.1%
..10.8%
..11.6%
..+1.1%

..Minnesota
..7.3%
..7.8%
..8.8%
..9.0%
..10.2%
..+2.9%

..Mississippi
..12.5%
..14.2%
..14.8%
..15.2%
..15.3%
..+2.8%

..Missouri
..10.7%
..10.4%
..10.3%
..11.3%
..11.7%
..+1.0%

..Montana
..7.2%
..7.9%
..7.6%
..8.9%
..8.4%
..+1.2%

..Nebraska
..8.1%
..10.2%
..10.2%
..9.6%
..10.8%
..+2.7%

..Nevada
..8.9%
..10.4%
..10.9%
..11.5%
..10.1%
..+1.2%

..New . Hampshire
..9.1%
..8.4%
..9.2%
..8.7%
..9.7%
..+0.6%

..New Jersey
..9.3%
..11.0%
NA
..10.3%
..10.8%
..+1.5%

..New Mexico
..10.3%
..10.7%
..12.3%
..13.2%
..12.6%
..+2.3%

..New York
..9.7%
..10.5%
..10.5%
..11.4%
..11.3%
..+1.6%

..North Carolina
..10.4%
..11.4%
..11.8%
..12.7%
..12.1%
..+1.7%

..North Dakota
..8.6%
..9.0%
..8.9%
..9.5%
..9.6%
..+1.0%

..Ohio
..11.7%
..11.3%
..12.0%
..12.6%
..13.0%
..+1.3%

..Oklahoma
..11.5%
..12.7%
..12.2%
..12.8%
..13.3%
..+1.8%

..Oregon
..9.9%
..9.6%
..8.6%
..9.6%
..10.3%
..+0.4%

..Pennsylvania
..10.2%
..10.6%
..10.8%
..11.1%
..11.5%
..+1.3%

..Puerto Rico
..16.4%
..17.2%
..16.7%
..16.8%
..17.7%
..+1.3%

..Rhode Island
..9.8%
..8.9%
..10.4%
..10.4%
..11.5%
..+1.7%

..South Carolina
..11.6%
..13.4%
..13.4%
..13.7%
..12.9%
..+1.3%

..South Dakota
..7.8%
..11.1%
..10.6%
..10.8%
..9.1%
..+1.3%

..Tennessee
..11.9%
..13.1%
..13.8%
..14.0%
..14.8%
..+2.9%

..Texas
..10.6%
..11.9%
..12.2%
..11.5%
..13.9%
..+3.3%

..Utah
..7.2%
..7.1%
..8.0%
..8.0%
..8.7%
..+1.5%

..Vermont
..7.3%
..8.2%
..8.7%
..8.5%
..8.4%
..+1.1%

..Virginia
..10.6%
..10.5%
..10.9%
..11.4%
..12.8%
..+2.2%

..Washington
..8.8%
..9.1%
..9.4%
..8.7%
..9.7%
..+0.9%

..West Virginia
..13.0%
..15.2%
..15.6%
..15.9%
..17.4%
..+4.4%

..Wisconsin
..8.3%
..9.1%
..8.7%
..9.1%
..10.3%
..+2.0%

..Wyoming
..9.1%
..9.0%
..7.8%
..8.8%
..9.3%
..+0.2%

..MEDIAN
..9.8%
..10.5%
..10.8%
..11.0%
..11.6%
..+1.8%

Pictured: For clients with diabetes, one key budget item is the cost of the devices used to test blood sugar. Credit: LightField Studios/Shutterstock

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