What is a normal HOMA-IR?

Roughly, under about 1.0 is ideal and 1.0 to 2.0 is typical, while above about 2.0 suggests insulin resistance. The exact cutoffs vary by lab and population, so your trend over time matters more than a single value.

How do I calculate HOMA-IR?

In US units, multiply your fasting glucose (mg/dL) by your fasting insulin (µU/mL) and divide by 405. In mmol/L, divide by 22.5 instead. Both numbers must come from the same fasting blood draw.

Yes. HOMA-IR uses fasting glucose and fasting insulin, so a 9 to 12 hour overnight fast is needed for a valid result.

Is HOMA-IR better than HbA1c?

They answer different questions. HOMA-IR catches insulin resistance early, while HbA1c diagnoses prediabetes and diabetes once blood sugar has already risen. See the fasting insulin vs HbA1c guide.

Can I lower my HOMA-IR?

Yes, and often quickly. Losing visceral fat, cutting refined carbohydrates, exercising, and sleeping well all improve insulin sensitivity and bring the score down.

HOMA-IR: How to Calculate and Read Your Insulin Resistance Score

Your fasting insulin tells you how hard your pancreas is working. Your fasting glucose tells you the result. HOMA-IR, short for Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance, combines the two into a single number for how insulin resistant you are, and you can work it out yourself from one ordinary fasting blood draw. Here is what it means, how to calculate it, and what a good score looks like.

The quick answer

HOMA-IR estimates insulin resistance from your fasting glucose and fasting insulin. A low score means your body holds a normal blood sugar with little insulin, which is what you want. A high score means it takes a lot of insulin to do the same job, the signature of insulin resistance. Under about 1.0 is ideal; much above 2.0 suggests resistance is setting in. It is a research-grade screen you can run on yourself, and it often catches trouble years before glucose or HbA1c move.

What HOMA-IR actually measures

The idea is intuitive. Insulin is the hormone that moves sugar out of your blood and into your cells. If your cells respond well, a little insulin keeps blood sugar normal. If they resist, your pancreas has to pump out far more insulin to get the same result. HOMA-IR captures that relationship by multiplying your fasting glucose and fasting insulin together, so it essentially asks how much insulin you are running against the blood sugar it is holding in check. The model was built to approximate the euglycemic clamp, the elaborate gold-standard test of insulin resistance, from nothing more than a fasting sample ^[1].

How to calculate it

You need only two fasting numbers, both of which you can order yourself. In US units, with glucose in mg/dL and insulin in µU/mL:

HOMA-IR = (fasting glucose × fasting insulin) ÷ 405

For example, a fasting glucose of 90 and a fasting insulin of 8 give (90 × 8) ÷ 405, or about 1.8. If your lab reports glucose in mmol/L, divide by 22.5 instead of 405. The insulin units usually need no conversion, since µU/mL, mU/L, and mIU/L are all the same number; only if your insulin is reported in pmol/L do you divide it by about 6 first to get µU/mL.

What your score means

As a rough guide for US assays:

HOMA-IR	What it suggests
Under ~1.0	Insulin sensitive, the ideal zone
~1.0 to 1.9	Typical; watch the trend
~2.0 and up	Insulin resistance becoming likely
Above ~3	Marked insulin resistance

Treat these as approximate. Because insulin assays are not standardized between laboratories, the exact cutoffs shift with the method used, and normal values differ by population. That makes HOMA-IR most useful for tracking your own trend over time, or comparing before and after a change, rather than as a hard diagnostic line ^[2].

What it is good for, and its limits

HOMA-IR's strength is catching insulin resistance early and cheaply. Because the pancreas compensates for resistance by making more insulin long before blood sugar rises, a climbing HOMA-IR can flag the problem years ahead of glucose or HbA1c ^[3]. Its limits are worth knowing too: it needs a true fasting draw, the insulin assay varies between labs, and it was designed as a research and screening tool rather than a formal clinical diagnostic, so no single number is a diagnosis ^[2]. Read it as one strong clue in a pattern, not a verdict.

How to lower it

Lowering HOMA-IR means the same thing as reversing insulin resistance, and it responds well to ordinary changes:

Lose visceral fat. Even modest weight loss sharply improves insulin sensitivity.
Cut refined carbohydrates and added sugar, the biggest drivers of the insulin your pancreas has to produce.
Move your muscles. Both aerobic exercise and resistance training help muscle take up glucose with less insulin.
Protect your sleep. Short or broken sleep worsens insulin resistance on its own.

These are the same levers that move fasting insulin and fasting glucose, which makes sense, since HOMA-IR is built from them.

How it compares to other tests

HOMA-IR, fasting insulin, and the lipid clues all circle the same problem from different angles. Fasting insulin alone is most of the signal, and HOMA-IR refines it by accounting for your glucose at the same time; see fasting insulin vs HbA1c for why insulin moves first. The triglyceride to HDL ratio is a free proxy hiding on any lipid panel. And HbA1c lags all of them, rising only once blood sugar finally climbs. To order the inputs together, the Metabolic Panel pairs fasting insulin, glucose, and HbA1c, and the metabolic testing guide shows the cheapest way to get them.

The bottom line

HOMA-IR is one of the highest-yield numbers in metabolic health that almost no standard checkup bothers to calculate. From two fasting values you can order yourself, it estimates insulin resistance years before it shows up as high blood sugar, and you can do the arithmetic on the back of your lab report. Aim under 1, watch the trend, and treat a rising score as an early and fixable warning.