The Minnesota Department of Health says Minnesota's suicide rate remained unchanged in 2024 compared to the year before.
Preliminary data show the state's suicide rate last year in entirely rural counties was twice that of the Twin Cities metro counties. Rural counties make up about 1.6% of the Minnesota population and 2.8% of all suicide deaths.
"There's a pretty clear linear relationship between the increasingly rural counties and higher suicide rates," says Minnesota Department of Health epidemiologist Stefan Gingerich.
He says data measures how far individuals are from a population center and how it correlates to the overall suicide rate.
"Not big population centers like Minneapolis or St. Paul, or Duluth, or Rochester, but even smaller towns," says Gingerich. "So getting to a place where they can access mental health care, or job opportunities, or social interaction with other people."
Suicide rates were lower last year for teens and younger adults - and higher for Minnesotans aged 50 to 54-years old and 80 to 84-years old.
The MDH data also shows Minnesota's suicide rate plateaued last year compared to the year prior, slowing a two-decade climb.
“The overall increase in deaths by suicide over the last couple of decades continues to be concerning,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham. “Every death by suicide is a tragedy and can have an ongoing impact on families and communities. Our aim is to help make sure people know suicide is preventable and recovery is possible.”
Even so, Gingerich says these deaths are preventable.
"From that perspective, we want to prevent as many of these as we can and bring those numbers down," he adds. "As recently as 10 or 15 years ago, these numbers were quite a bit lower than they are today. And so, I think you know our goal is to start to sort of turn that trend around which we might be starting to see with these last couple of years."
Minnesota's 988 Lifeline Centers answered just over 90,000 contacts last year, a 75% increase from the year prior.
The Department of Health shows the state's suicides totaled 813 among residents.
"We're looking at a rate of about 13.9 per 100,000 people," Gingerich explains. "2023 was 13.8 per 100,000 people, and both of those years are lower than 2022 when the rate crept above 14 per 100,000 people. So that was the first time in state history that the rate has been that high. It's nice to see it come down, and we're hoping that continues in the future."
When it comes to the higher rates in rural areas, the Department of Health says some of the contributing factors putting residents more at risk for suicide could include higher rates of firearm ownership, less access to health and mental health care, and higher poverty rates than urban areas.
Firearm injuries made up the majority (51%) of suicide deaths in 2024. While firearms have been the leading injury mechanism in suicide deaths for decades, this percentage is higher than in recent years.
As has been the case for several decades, more males died by suicide in 2024 than females, with males comprising almost 80% of suicides.
Key data points regarding this health inequity affecting Greater Minnesota:
- In 2024, the suicide rate in entirely rural counties was twice that of the Twin Cities metro counties.
-Entirely rural counties made up about 1.6% of the Minnesota population and 2.8% of all suicide deaths in 2024.
-Counties in the Twin Cities metro area made up about 55.1% of the Minnesota population and about 46.7% of all suicide deaths in 2024.
-This is not a new phenomenon. In the most recent five years of final data (2019-2023), the most rural counties in Minnesota had a suicide rate of 19.5 per 100,000, which is 59% higher than the Twin Cities (12.3) and 46% higher than counties with urban areas outside the Twin Cities.
If you need immediate emotional or mental health support, or are worried about someone else, please call or text 988 or visit the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - Call. Text. Chat. (988lifeline.org) to connect online with a trained specialist.