Diabetes Risk Calculator

Diabetes risk here means how likely it is that you have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes that has not been found yet. This calculator scores the seven questions in the risk test shared by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the CDC, and the total shows whether a blood test is worth discussing.

What Diabetes Risk Measures

The score ranks your risk from facts about you, such as age, family history and weight. It does not measure your blood sugar, so it cannot tell you whether you have diabetes. It is for adults who have not been diagnosed, and it does not cover type 1 diabetes or diabetes during pregnancy.

The Formula

Score = age points + sex points + gestational diabetes points + family history points + blood pressure points + activity points + weight points

Age: under 40 = 0, 40 to 49 = 1, 50 to 59 = 2, 60 or older = 3

Male = 1, female = 0. Ever had gestational diabetes (women) = 1

Parent, brother or sister with diabetes = 1. Ever diagnosed with high blood pressure = 1. Not physically active = 1

Weight: 0 to 3 points from a height and weight chart

The score was developed by Bang and colleagues in 2009 from US national health survey data, and the ADA and CDC version adds a gestational diabetes question that was not part of the original model¹ ².

How This Calculator Computes Your Result

Enter your age, sex, height and weight in metric or imperial units, and answer the yes or no questions (the gestational diabetes question appears only for women). For weight points, the tool rounds your height to the nearest inch and checks your weight against the official ADA and CDC chart, which covers 4 ft 10 in to 6 ft 4 in². Its 1, 2 and 3 point rows line up with a body mass index (BMI) of about 25, 30 and 40, so if you are shorter or taller than the chart, the tool uses those BMI cut-offs instead. You see your total out of 10, a breakdown of where each point came from, and your BMI.

What Your Result Means

Both the ADA and CDC use 5 points as the line for higher risk².

Some groups are at higher risk than the score shows. African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian American and Pacific Islander people are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and Asian Americans face higher risk at about 15 pounds less body weight than the chart lists².

What a Blood Test Would Show

A doctor can check for prediabetes or diabetes with an A1C test, a fasting glucose test or a glucose tolerance test. These are the CDC cut-offs for each test³.

US screening advice does not depend on this score. The US Preventive Services Task Force (2021, still current) recommends screening adults aged 35 to 70 who have overweight or obesity, meaning a BMI of 25 or more⁴. For Asian Americans, a BMI of 23 may be a more suitable starting point, and earlier screening is suggested for people with a family history of diabetes, past gestational diabetes or polycystic ovary syndrome⁴. The ADA's 2026 Standards of Care go further: testing for adults of any age with overweight or obesity and at least one other risk factor, and for all other adults from age 35⁷. If your age and BMI fall in the main group, the calculator shows a short note saying so.

How Well the Test Works

In the original study, a score of 5 or more picked up 79% of people with undiagnosed diabetes¹. The trade-off is many false alarms: only about 1 in 10 people who scored 5 or more had diabetes, and about a third of people without diabetes still scored that high¹. That is normal for a screening tool, whose job is to point people toward a blood test.

A later study tested the ADA version in 9,391 US adults. It ranked people fairly well, with an AUC of 0.77 for undiagnosed diabetes and 0.72 to 0.74 for prediabetes⁵. AUC is a 0 to 1 score of how well a test ranks people with a condition above people without it, where 0.5 is a coin flip.

Why a High Score Is Worth Acting On

Finding prediabetes early matters because type 2 diabetes can often be delayed or prevented. In the Diabetes Prevention Program, 3,234 adults with raised blood sugar were followed for an average of 2.8 years⁶. A lifestyle program aiming for 7% weight loss and 150 minutes of activity a week cut new cases of diabetes by 58% compared with placebo⁶. Several items on this test, such as weight and activity, are things that can change, so your score can change too.