What does high urine specific gravity mean?

Above 1.030 usually means concentrated urine from dehydration. Heavy sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, glucose in urine (uncontrolled diabetes), or SIADH can also push it up. Drinking more water typically brings it back to normal.

What does low urine specific gravity mean?

Values near 1.000 can simply mean overhydration. Persistently low readings (under 1.005), especially with high urine output, point to diabetes insipidus or kidney damage that prevents concentrating urine. Pair it with serum sodium and urine osmolality if it stays low.

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Urine Specific Gravity

Normal range: 1.005 – 1.03 (higher is better)

Urine specific gravity measures how concentrated your urine is compared to pure water. It is a quick check of how well your kidneys can concentrate and dilute urine. Values close to 1.000 mean very dilute urine. Values above 1.030 suggest concentrated urine, usually from dehydration. It is one of the simplest indicators of hydration status on a standard lab panel.

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How much does a Urine SG test cost?

Urine SG isn't sold on its own. It comes in a routine urinalysis, about $45. A fuller workup adds Vitamin D ($75), hs-CRP ($69), ApoB ($50), and ApoA1 ($50). You can test Urine SG and 100 other biomarkers for $190 as part of an Empirical membership.

Empirical is FSA/HSA eligible, so you can pay with pre-tax dollars. Fast for 8-12 hours beforehand for the most accurate lipid and metabolic results, and expect results in days rather than weeks.

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Urine specific gravity measures how concentrated your urine is compared to pure water. It is a quick check of hydration status and how well your kidneys can concentrate urine. Values close to 1.000 mean very dilute urine. Values above 1.030 suggest concentrated urine, usually from dehydration.

How does Urine Specific Gravity change with age?

Urine Specific Gravity stays relatively flat across adult ages (correlation with age, r = +0.02). Most of the spread in the chart below comes from differences between people rather than from age.

Urine Specific Gravity is stable with age, chart with median and linear trend

What can cause low Urine SG?

A normal Urine SG is 1.005 – 1.03. Higher is better.

Low specific gravity (dilute urine) results from drinking a lot of water before the test, diabetes insipidus, or kidney tubular damage that impairs concentrating ability. Diuretic medications also dilute the urine.

High specific gravity (concentrated urine) is most often from dehydration, heavy sweating, or fluid restriction. Uncontrolled diabetes can raise the reading because glucose spills into the urine. Proteinuria (protein in urine) and contrast dye from recent imaging can also raise it.

The single most impactful lifestyle factor is hydration. Drinking adequate water throughout the day keeps specific gravity in a healthy range. If your urine is consistently very concentrated, it may mean you need to drink more fluids. There are no specific medications that target specific gravity itself, but diuretics lower it, and dehydrating illnesses raise it.

Biomarkers related to Urine SG

Urine SG is most highly correlated with AST and Iron. Here are the top biomarkers correlated with Urine SG, based on 500,000 tests done by Empirical Health.

The percentage shows how strongly two biomarkers move together. A higher number means the relationship is stronger. Green = rises and falls together. Orange = one rises as the other falls.

Frequently asked questions about Urine SG

Where to get a Urine SG test near you

Urine SG is drawn at 2,200+ Quest and BioReference patient service centers across the US, so there's usually one within a short drive. Browse the full directory to find the one closest to you.

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