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ObjectiveTo examine the influence of neighbourhood socioeconomic position (NSEP) on development of diabetes over time.DesignA longitudinal cohort study.SettingThe data reported were from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging, a longitudinal study of the health of 1789 older Latinos.ParticipantsCommunity-dwelling older Mexican Americans residing in the Sacramento Metropolitan Statistical Area.Main outcomeMultistate Markov regression were used to model transitions through four possible states over time: 1=normal; 2=pre-diabetic; 3=diabetic; and 4=death without diabetes.ResultsAt baseline, nearly 50% were non-diabetic, 17.5% were pre-diabetic and nearly 33% were diabetic. At the end of follow-up, there were a total of 824 people with type 2 diabetes. In a fully adjusted MSM regression model, among non-diabetics, higher NSEP was not associated with a transition to pre-diabetes. Among non-diabetics, higher NSEP was associated with an increased risk of diabetes (HR=1.66, 95% CI 1.14 to 2.42) and decreased risk of death without diabetes (HR: 0.56, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.96). Among pre-diabetics, higher NSEP was significantly associated with a transition to non-diabetic status (HR: 1.22, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.50). Adjusting for BMI, age, education, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, medical insurance and nativity did not affect this relationship.ConclusionsOur findings show that high NSEP poses higher risk of progression from normal to diabetes compared with a lower risk of death without diabetes. This work presents a possibility that these associations are modified by nativity or culture.