Stroke in Minnesota

How common is stroke in Minnesota?

• In 2021, approximately 2.6% of adults in Minnesota reported ever having had a stroke in their lifetime – more than 110,000 people.¹
• More than 4% of all deaths in Minnesota are due to stroke (2,384 deaths in 2021), making it the fifth-leading cause of death in the state. This is a lower proportion of overall deaths than is typical, as COVID-19 became the third-leading cause of death in 2020. ²
• In 2020, Minnesotans experienced more than 12,000 hospitalizations for acute stroke events. This is also lower than has been observed in recent years, due to lower hospital volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic.³
• In 2021, Minnesota was ranked 14th lowest for overall stroke mortality among states and the District of Columbia.⁴

Are there disparities in stroke rates in Minnesota?

• From 2018-2021, the stroke death rate is more than 30-40% higher in Asian/Pacific Islander, African-American/African-Born,and American Indian Minnesotans compared to the overall Minnesota average.²
• The lowest stroke death rates are in Latinx/Hispanic men and women.²

What is the economic cost of stroke?

• In the United States, there were over $50 billion in annual stroke-related medical costs, including procedures, hospitalizations, rehabilitation, and lost productivity due to mortality in 2017 and 2018.⁵

About Stroke: Health information on stroke and its risk factors

For more information, contact: health.heart@state.mn.us

₁ Minnesota Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Unadjusted prevalence.
₂ Vital Statistics 2012-2021. MN Center for Health Statistics, MDH.
₃ MN Hospital Uniform Billing (UB) Claims Data, Health Economics Program, MDH and Minnesota Hospital Association.
₄ CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, Compressed Mortality File (CMF) on CDC WONDER Online Database.
₅ Tsao CW, et al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2022 Update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2022;145:e153-e639.