Cold-related deaths

Cold-related deaths in Minnesota:

• By year
• By sex
• By age and sex

Cold-related deaths are the most severe health outcome from cold exposure. Cold-related deaths are sometimes not identified as being related to cold, which means the data may underestimate cold-related deaths.

Cold-related illness directly accounted for 588 deaths in Minnesota from 2002-2019. While the number and rate of cold-related deaths vary from year to year, the overall trend shows an increase in cold-related deaths from 2002 to 2019. In 2019, there were 62 deaths (almost 1 death per 100,000 Minnesotans).

In 2019, males died at 2.8 times the rate of females.

In general, males over 35 years are more likely to die from cold exposure than females. This chart shows that those age 65 and older have the highest rate of cold-related deaths, which reinforces current scientific knowledge that those who are age 65 years and older are most vulnerable to the cold.

Related topics

Climate-related environmental health concerns 

Heat-related illness 

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Updated February 2021. Topic is updated when data become available.