HOMA-β Calculator

About this calculator

HOMA-β (Homeostatic Model Assessment of beta-cell function) is a formula developed by Matthews et al. in 1985 that estimates what percentage of normal insulin-secreting capacity a person’s pancreatic beta cells are producing, using only two fasting blood values: HOMA-β = (20 × fasting insulin [μU/mL]) / (fasting glucose [mmol/L] − 3.5), expressed as a percentage where 100% represents a young, healthy reference population.

Because it needs just a single fasting insulin and fasting glucose draw rather than a multi-hour oral glucose tolerance test, HOMA-β is widely used in diabetes and endocrinology research (often alongside HOMA-IR, which estimates insulin resistance from the same two values) to track beta-cell function over time or across study groups. It is a research and screening estimate, not a diagnostic test on its own, and results should always be interpreted by a clinician alongside other measures. This calculator applies the formula to the fasting insulin and glucose values you enter.