Diabetes in Minnesota

How many adults in Minnesota have diabetes?

• In 2020, 8.8% of Minnesota adults (about 390,000) had been diagnosed with diabetes (type 1 or 2).¹
• Around 24,000 new cases are diagnosed in Minnesota each year (2018).
• Around 1 in 10 people with diabetes do not know that they have the disease.²

For information about diabetes in the U.S., please read the National Diabetes Statistics Report.

Are there disparities in diabetes rates in Minnesota?

Disparities happen when the health of a group of people are negatively affected by factors like how much money they earn, their race or ethnicity, or where they live. In Minnesota, we currently collect data specific to two of these factors.

• Education: In 2017, about 5.2%¹* of adults who have a college degree report having diabetes compared with 8.9%¹* of adults who do not.
• Income: Health survey data from 2013 through 2017 show that self-reported diabetes rates are higher for people living in households that earn lower incomes.¹*

*Percentages are unadjusted for other factors

How is Minnesota monitoring diabetes management?

Healthcare providers measure five diabetes goals to monitor how well a patient’s diabetes is controlled. These goals are influenced by a number of different factors: individual factors, community-level factors, and healthcare-related factors. This information is reported as the Optimal Diabetes Care measure. Overall based on information collected in 2019 in Minnesota, 45% of adults met all five diabetes goals.³

There are disparities in the percentage of people who meet all five diabetes goals. We show some of the disparities observed in 2019 below:

• Race: 26% of American Indian or Alaska Native meet the Optimal Diabetes Care measure as compared to 49 percent of Asian adults.⁴
• Ethnicity: 38% of Hispanic/Latinx adults meet the Optimal Diabetes Care measure as compared to 46 percent of non-Hispanic/Latinx adults.⁴
• Language: 35% of adults who prefer to speak Hmong meet the Optimal Diabetes Care measure as compared to 59 percent of adults who prefer to speak Vietnamese.⁴
• Insurance type: 36% of adults receiving health insurance through State of Minnesota programs that are managed by insurance companies, such as Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, meet the Optimal Diabetes Care measure as compared to 47% of all other adults in Minnesota.⁵

What are Minnesota's estimated medical costs of diabetes in 2017?

Diabetes increases a person’s risk for a variety of health conditions including high blood pressure, kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, vision problems and nerve problems.⁶ The costs of diabetes include costs for routine medical care and treating these conditions, described below, as well as productivity costs like being unable to work and personal financial and emotional costs.⁷

• Diagnosed diabetes: $4.7 billion dollars.⁷
• Undiagnosed diabetes: $373 million⁸ for the people who have diabetes but do not know it.²
• Gestational diabetes can affect pregnancy outcomes and it is associated with increased risk of developing diabetes (new onset-diabetes during pregnancy): $24 million.⁸

For more information

Health Information on diabetes – Find more about diabetes types, risk factors, symptoms and managing your disease.
Diabetes in Minnesota Fact Sheet (PDF) – Updated February 2022.

References

¹CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Study 
² Selvin, E et al. 2017. Identifying Trends in Undiagnosed Diabetes in U.S. Adults by Using a Confirmatory Definition. Ann Intern Med. 167(11):769-776. 
³Minnesota Community Measurement, 2020 Health Equity of Care Report (PDF) 
⁴Minnesota Community Measurement, Minnesota Health Care Disparities by Race, Hispanic Ethnicity, Language and Country of Origin 2020 Report (PDF) ⁵Minnesota Community Measurement, Disparities by Insurance Type Report (PDF) 
⁶ CDC: Diabetes Complications 
⁷American Diabetes Association. Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017. Diabetes Care 41(5):917-928. 
⁸Dall, TM et al. 2014. The Economic Burden of Elevated Blood Glucose Levels in 2012: Diagnosed and Undiagnosed Diabetes, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, and Prediabetes. Diabetes Care 37(12):3172-9.