The objective of this study was to compare various lipid ratios for detection of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the Iranian general population.This cross-sectional study involved 5677 subjects aged ≥18 years from the general population in Kerman, Iran. Associations between lipid ratio quartiles and MetS were analyzed using logistic regression models. The areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was calculated to determine the accuracy of lipid ratios in predicting MetS.The adjusted chance of having MetS across quartiles of all lipid ratios had an increasing significant pattern (P < 0.0001). The area under the curves of triglyceride/high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio was 0.85 (95% CI = 0.84-0.87) in men and 0.85 (95% CI = 0.84-0.86) in women, of total cholesterol (TC)/HDL-C ratio was 0.79 (95% CI = 0.77-0.81) in men and 0.79 (95% CI = 0.77-0.81) in women and of low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)/HDL-C ratio was 0.73 (95% CI = 0.71-0.75) in men and 0.74 (95% CI = 0.72-0.76) in women.Our results indicate that the TG/HDL-C Ratio is a better marker than the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio and the TC/HDL-C ratio for identifying MetS in the Iranian population and could be used in clinical practice.