States With the Largest Increase in Diabetes in a Decade

Methodology

To determine the states with the highest increase in people with diabetes in a decade, 24/7 Tempo reviewed 2011 and 2021 diabetes data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program. The data released in the 2011 and 2021 reports are for years 2008 and 2017, respectively. 

The obesity rates — the share of adult residents who report a body mass index of 30 or greater —  came from the 2011 and 2021 CHR reports.

We also considered measures of health factors that may contribute to developing diabetes and how they have changed over the same period of time. Health factors reviewed included measures of healthy behavior such as exercise, limited access to healthy foods, and socioeconomic factors such as annual household income. Limited access to healthy foods measures the percentage of the population that is low income and does not live close to a grocery store.  

Physical activity data was compared from the 2011 and 2021 CHR reports. 

Data on the shares of adults with limited access to healthy foods in 2012 and in 2021 also came from the CHR. Data was not available in the 2011 report. 

Population figures as well as median household income came from the U.S. Census American Community Survey 2011 and 2019 1-Year Estimates.