Minnesota suicide rate was up 4% in 2025

Minnesota’s suicide rate increased 4% in 2025 compared to 2024, according to preliminary data from the state’s Department of Health.

An estimated 845 people died from suicide in 2025, representing an age-adjusted rate of 14.3 per 100,000 people. In 2024, the finalized age-adjusted rate was 13.7 per 100,000 people, corresponding to 818 Minnesotans who died by suicide.

Despite the increase, suicide rates continue to be lower than a peak in 2022. The recent upward trend is in line with the long-term steady increase in suicides in Minnesota and the U.S. Minnesota’s suicide rate has increased around 36% in the last two decades.

As has been the case for at least two decades, firearms were the leading mechanism of suicide deaths. Suicides from firearms reached an all-time high in 2025, and made up 51% of Minnesota suicide deaths compared to 43% in 2019.

The preliminary suicide rate for children aged 10-14 was more than twice as high in 2025 compared to the five years prior.

In an annual student survey, nearly 17% of Minnesota eighth graders said they have seriously considered attempting suicide in the past, down from a high of 22% in 2022. Overall, students reported feeling less depressed in 2025 than in recent years, though a majority still say they’d recently felt anxious and on edge.

Suicide rates for older teens and young adults decreased slightly. Some researchers have credited part of that decrease to the U.S.’s implementation of the 988 mental health hotline in 2022. A study in April found that the new hotline corresponded to an 11% decrease in suicides among people aged 15 to 34, for example.

The data for 2025 has similar demographic trends to prior years: Indigenous people had the highest suicide rate, followed by white, Black, Hispanic and Asian people. Suicide rates in rural Minnesota decreased slightly but continue to be far higher than in urban areas, including the Twin Cities. A 2024 report found that lack of access to mental health care is a key factor in rural suicides.

Men died by suicide nearly four times as much as women in 2025, following a decadeslong trend. The gap has widened slightly: male suicide rate increased from 2024 to 2025, from 21.2 to 23, while the female suicide rate went down from 6.3 to 5.8. The preliminary data is based on death certificates, which don’t include other sexes or gender identities.

If you or someone you know needs immediate emotional or mental health support, call or text 988 or visit 988Lifeline.org.