Minnesota: Veteran Suicides Almost Double Civilian Rate

Veterans and suicide: A national issue with local consequences
St. Cloud Times
Kirsti Marohn and David Unze
August 25, 2014

Almost 19 percent of suicides in Minnesota from 2007-12 were veterans

That's the estimated number of veterans in the United States who died by suicide every day in 2010, according to a February 2012 report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

A St. Cloud Times analysis of state death records found that 686 veterans died by suicide in Minnesota from 2007 to 2012. Almost 19 percent of suicides in Minnesota during those years were veterans, which closely tracks the national numbers.

Veterans also are dying from suicides at a higher rate than the general population, according to the Times analysis.

The average rate of veteran suicides in Minnesota during that six-year period was 30 per 100,000 people, almost double the suicide rate of the overall population of 15.4 per 100,000.

Scars of Service

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