Northern Michigan’s rural counties have the highest suicide rates in the state, in some cases at least double the risk in more populated areas.
Data released recently by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reveals rising rates of suicide overall in the state, with the highest among Michigan’s middle-aged.
More than 1,500 Michiganders died by suicide in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available. That’s more than died in car crashes or homicides.
While the majority of those suicides were in the highly populated counties, the rates per 100,000 people were much higher in many of the rural counties north of Clare — a pattern that reflects national trends.
Michigan’s overall suicide rate in 2023 was 14.9 per 100,000 residents, but for the decade ending in 2023, it was as high as 35.4 in Alcona County, and as low as 9.0 in west Michigan’s Ottawa County, according to state data.
Jed Magen, a psychiatrist at Michigan State University who works with the Michigan Center for Rural Health, said residents of rural Michigan have less access to mental health services.
“You may have to drive 40 miles away — that’s nearly impossible” for some people, Magen said.
Also playing a role in increasing rural suicide risk is a lower ability to “access a social network, which is an important buffer for all kinds of illnesses,” Magen said.
Those kinds of networks can serve as sounding boards for illnesses and provide support or transportation when needed. In rural areas, neighbors may be miles away.
Higher poverty rates in rural parts of Michigan also increase suicide risk, both because of potential depression and inability to pay for services, Magen said.
“You can address some of the issues with things like telehealth, but not everyone has good internet access,” he said.
Also playing a role: rural residents often have greater access to guns, which are the means of choice for more than half (56%) of suicides in Michigan.
Nationally, there are roughly twice as many suicides by firearm as homicides by firearm. Those trends were cited last month by a task force convened by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer into gun safety that recommended increased funding for suicide prevention initiatives.
State figures show Michigan’s suicide rate has inched upward in the past decade, from 13.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2014 to 14.9 in 2023. That’s slightly above the national rate of 14.1.
Michigan residents employed in material moving had the highest rate of suicide in 2023, at 89 per 100,000. People in the construction industry often deal with seasonal work and frequent layoffs.
Farming, fishing and forestry had the second-highest rate, at 84.5.
