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Blood Test Tracker

Estimated Average Glucose (eAG)

eAG restates your A1C in the same units as a glucose test, to show roughly what your average blood sugar has been over about 3 months.

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert reviewAlso called eAG, ADAGLOINC 27353-2

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What it is

eAG stands for estimated average glucose. Your lab calculates it from your A1C result, so it is not a separate blood test. It describes your A1C in the same units as daily glucose readings (mg/dL or mmol/L). It comes from a formula built on a large study, so your true average could be higher or lower than the estimate.

Why it matters

Many people find a glucose number easier to relate to than a percentage. An A1C of 7%, for example, matches an eAG of about 154 mg/dL (8.6 mmol/L). It is useful for talking with your care team about your overall pattern, but it is an estimate and does not replace your A1C or your glucose readings.

If it’s low

A low eAG goes with a low A1C and is usually fine. Less often, a low A1C comes from conditions that shorten red blood cell life, and in that case it can hide higher blood sugar.

Common causes

  • Blood sugar that has been in a healthy range
  • Conditions that shorten red blood cell life, such as hemolytic anemia or a recent blood transfusion
  • Pregnancy, which changes red blood cell turnover

What can help

  • If you take insulin or similar medicines and have symptoms of low blood sugar, tell your clinician
  • If A1C may be unreliable for you, ask whether fructosamine or a continuous glucose monitor would help

If it’s high

A higher eAG goes with a higher A1C, which means blood sugar has been higher on average over roughly the past 3 months. An eAG of about 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) or more matches an A1C in the diabetes range, which your clinician would confirm with another test.

Common causes

  • Prediabetes or diabetes
  • Eating patterns, activity, sleep, illness or stress that raise average blood sugar
  • A change in diabetes medicines, or missed doses, in people who take them
  • Conditions that change red blood cells, which can push A1C up without a matching change in glucose

What can help

  • Ask your clinician whether to repeat the A1C or check glucose directly
  • Talk with your care team about food, activity, sleep and medicine routines

Usual ranges

What labs print as the reference range, by who was tested. Ranges differ a little between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against.

For adults: up to 116 mg/dL. Source: American Diabetes Association (Diabetes Care), Diabetes Care (A1C-Derived Average Glucose study group), Labcorp.

Wellness targets

Narrower ranges some clinicians aim for. Being outside one doesn’t mean something is wrong.

up to 153 mg/dL (18+, diabetes). Evidence: Moderate. The ADA Standards of Care (2026) recommend an A1C goal below 7% for many nonpregnant adults with diabetes who do not have severe or troublesome low blood sugar (grade A). The ADA table puts 7% at about 154 mg/dL, but the conversion is approximate (95% range 123 to 185 mg/dL), so the evidence is graded moderate here.

ADA A1C categories converted to eAG (28.7 x A1C - 46.7)

  • Below the prediabetes range (A1C below 5.7%)below 117 mg/dL
  • Prediabetes range (A1C 5.7 to 6.4%)117 to under 140 mg/dL
  • Diabetes range (A1C 6.5% or higher; needs a confirming result)140 and above mg/dL

What can affect your result

  • Everything that affects A1C, including red blood cell lifespan, hemoglobin variants, kidney failure and pregnancy
  • Your own pattern of highs and lows: eAG is a population estimate, not your measured average
  • The A1C method: results should come from an NGSP-certified lab method
  • Anything that affects A1C affects eAG. Conditions that change red blood cell turnover (anemias, G6PD deficiency, a recent blood transfusion, medicines that stimulate red blood cell production, kidney failure and pregnancy) can make A1C, and so eAG, less accurate. Some hemoglobin variants also interfere with some A1C methods.
  • eAG is an estimate from a formula. For one A1C value, the real average glucose varies from person to person: in the ADA's table the 95% range for an A1C of 7% is 123 to 185 mg/dL.
  • It is not the same as the average from a continuous glucose monitor or meter. The formula came from a 2008 study that used an older sensor system plus fingerstick readings.

Any time. eAG is calculated from your A1C result, which does not need fasting. Follows A1C, which reflects roughly the last 3 months of blood sugar.

When to talk to a clinician

Talk with your clinician if your eAG is about 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) or higher and no one has discussed it with you, or if you have heavy thirst, frequent urination or blurred vision. Get urgent help for vomiting, belly pain, trouble breathing or confusion together with high blood sugar.

Questions you could ask

  • Would a continuous glucose monitor or fructosamine add useful information alongside my A1C?
  • Does this match my home or sensor readings?
  • Could anything affecting my red blood cells make my A1C less reliable?
  • Could anything affecting my red blood cells be changing my A1C?

Questions people ask

Why is my eAG different from my meter or sensor average?

eAG is estimated from A1C with a formula based on a 2008 study, and A1C reflects about 3 months. Your meter or sensor average comes from actual readings over a different period, and sensors and meters have their own errors. The two can differ even when both are right.

How is eAG calculated?

In mg/dL, eAG = 28.7 x A1C - 46.7. For an A1C of 7.0% that gives about 154 mg/dL (about 8.6 mmol/L).

What eAG goes with common A1C values?

The ADA table gives about 97 mg/dL for an A1C of 5%, 126 for 6%, 154 for 7%, 183 for 8%, 212 for 9% and 240 for 10%. Each is a population estimate with a wide range around it.

Show the science and sources

Units

  • 1 mg/dL = 1 mg/dL
  • 1 mg/dL = 0.05551 mmol/L

Open the eAG unit converter

For clinicians and researchers

eAG is the ADAG regression of A1C on mean glucose: eAG (mg/dL) = 28.7 x A1C - 46.7 (R2 = 0.84; SD of prediction error 15.7 mg/dL), with a separate SI regression eAG (mmol/L) = 1.59 x A1C - 2.59. It was derived from about 2,700 glucose values per person over 3 months in 507 adults with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes or no diabetes (83% non-Hispanic White), and the regression did not differ significantly by age, sex, diabetes type, race/ethnicity or smoking in the original paper. The ADA and AACC judged the correlation (r = 0.92) strong enough to justify reporting eAG with every A1C. The ADA (2026) cautions that the mean glucose came from an early CGM system plus intermittent capillary readings, so it may not generalize to modern CGM, and that CGM averages depend on wear days, timing and sensor accuracy. The equation gives negative values below an A1C of about 1.6%. eAG carries every A1C interference (red blood cell turnover, hemoglobin variants, kidney failure, pregnancy) and adds the scatter around the regression line. It is a calculated value, so it cannot be measured separately.

LOINC 27353-2 (primary), 53553-4. Specimen: calculated.

Sources

  1. Translating the A1C Assay Into Estimated Average Glucose Values, Diabetes Care (A1C-Derived Average Glucose study group) (2008)
  2. 6. Glycemic Goals, Hypoglycemia, and Hyperglycemic Crises: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2026, American Diabetes Association (Diabetes Care) (2026)
  3. 2. Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2026, American Diabetes Association (Diabetes Care) (2026)
  4. Glucose (PubChem compound 5793), PubChem, National Library of Medicine
  5. Hemoglobin A1c (test 001453), Labcorp

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review. Last reviewed 2026-10-03. How we build and check these pages.

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