How often should you get your blood sugar tested?
On this page
Every 3 years from age 35 if your results are normal. Start earlier if you carry extra weight and have another risk factor, test every year once you’re in the prediabetes range, and every 1 to 3 years if you’ve had diabetes in a pregnancy. A home meter doesn’t replace the lab.
What we’d do
Put a lab fasting glucose and an A1c on the calendar the way you would a dental cleaning. Ask for both by name. If you’re in the prediabetes range, retest 12 weeks after you start changing things, so you can see if it’s working, then every year.
Why people go years without one
Most people assume their yearly checkup covers it. A basic metabolic panel does include a glucose, but it only counts as a fasting number if you fasted for 8 hours first (MedlinePlus), and an A1c is its own test, so ask for it by name. Meanwhile prediabetes has no symptoms, which is why 8 in 10 of the 115.2 million American adults who have it don’t know (CDC, 2026).
The schedule
This is the schedule in the American Diabetes Association’s 2026 standards (Table 2.5), which the US Preventive Services Task Force mostly agrees with.
| You | Test | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Any adult, from age 35 | fasting glucose, A1c or the 2-hour glucose drink test | every 3 years if normal |
| BMI 25 or more (23 or more with Asian ancestry) plus a risk factor | the same | start now, at any age |
| In the prediabetes range | the same | every year |
| Had diabetes in a pregnancy | the same | at least every 1 to 3 years |
| Changing your habits to bring it down | A1c and fasting glucose, same lab | 12 weeks after you start, then yearly |
Risk factors include a parent, brother or sister with type 2, high blood pressure, and not being active, the same things the CDC’s risk test gives points for. The Task Force’s own advice, from 2021, covers adults 35 to 70 with overweight or obesity and says every 3 years “may be a reasonable approach” when results are normal.
Why the lab and not a meter
Only a lab test decides where you stand, and a diagnosis takes two abnormal results unless the number is clearly high. A finger-stick meter and a sensor are useful for comparing your own meals, but neither can diagnose, and a sensor runs higher than your blood. A home A1c kit can only tell you to get a lab A1c.
It’s like a car’s yearly inspection against the dashboard. The dashboard tells you how today’s drive is going. The inspection is what says the car is safe.
Who should test sooner
Test sooner than your schedule says if you notice strong thirst, peeing a lot, blurry vision or weight loss you didn’t try for. Those are signs of high blood sugar, and with a number of 200 or more they mean calling your doctor today. If your weight has gone up since your last test, don’t wait the full 3 years.
The quiz scores your risk the way the CDC’s test does and gives you a date for your next test. For a number you already have, use the checker.
6 sources
- American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026, section 2, Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes, Table 2.5pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026, section 3, Prevention or Delay of Diabetespmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- US Preventive Services Task Force, Screening for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, 2021uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org
- CDC, Prediabetes risk test, how your test is scoredcdc.gov
- CDC, Prediabetes: Could It Be You? (updated February 17, 2026)cdc.gov
- MedlinePlus, Blood glucose test, US National Library of Medicinemedlineplus.gov
