–Women’s Health Report Card (pdf)

Introduction

Many local and national data sources can be accessed to learn about the status of women’s health in Minnesota (MN). However, no one source provides Minnesotans with a comprehensive review of the specific indicators of and barriers to women’s health. To paint a broad picture of how MN’s women are faring, we have combed through the data and compiled the MN Women’s Health Report Card (MN-WHRC) to provide citizens, public health professionals, policymakers, and others with a short, visual synopsis that highlights key areas of women’s health.

To avoid duplicating other existing efforts, this report focuses on the health of women ages 18 and up unless otherwise indicated. Because the MN-WHRC is intentionally brief, much of the supporting data, citations, and other information are available on the website.

About This Report Card

Working closely with colleagues and the MN Department of Health’s (MDH) Center for Health Statistics, Child and Family Health Division, and Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Division, we have carefully designed the MN-WHRC to help visualize and reflect the health indicators specific to our state’s unique demographics. The MN-WHRC is produced every other year as new data become available to provide a comprehensive review and comparison across the years.

These data reflect the daily experiences of women’s lives and can be used to inform MN’s practice and policies, thus offering the opportunity of improving short- and long-term health outcomes for women.

Finally, recognizing the rich diversity of our state’s immigrant and refugee populations, each Report Card goes through a multi-person team translation and review. The 2024 MN-WHRC will be available in Spanish, Hmong, and Somali in Spring/Summer 2025.

What’s New in 2024 

In this updated Report Card, you will learn that:

• Updated Healthy People 2030 (HP2030) targets show that MN women continue to lead the nation in some areas of health, but others (such as the number of women ages 50-75 who have had a colonoscopy and the number of women who have had a pap test in the last year) fall short of HP2030 targets. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic likely impacts these results. 
• The percentage of pregnant people receiving prenatal care during the first trimester has increased.
• Hospitalizations and ICU cases of COVID have increased.
• MN women face many structural barriers to health, such as long drive times to birthing hospitals and residing in maternity care deserts.

About the Data Sources

The MN-WHRC uses various data sources and state reports. Data sources vary based on year and method of data collection. However, most data used for this Report Card were reported from 2018-2024. Some sources report annually, while others only report on an extended periodic basis. For instance, postpartum depression data rely on the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), which only reports in two-year increments. The MN 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) provides the latest update on MN’s Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The MN Health Statistics Annual Summary and the MN Adult Prison Population Summary are published annually. Hence, the topic areas in the MN-WHRC have a mix of data ranging from 2011-2024. Data collection years may be found by clicking on MN-WHRC sources.

Unless otherwise indicated, all data are for women aged 18 years or older. Sample size also differs for each data reporting system as well. It is important to show data by race and ethnicity to target resources and interventions for populations that need them most. However, one limitation is that some demographic information provided in original data sources was not broken down by gender and race/ethnicity. 

MN-WHRC Language

The terms “female” and “woman/women” are used interchangeably throughout the MN-WHRC based on data collection methods and reporting of original data sources. We must address the current limitations of language within research and in the MN-WHRC and recommend that future research and data reporting address the language used in alignment with the populations they are working with. 

Translations of the MN Women’s Health Report Card

The 2024 MN-WHRC is available in four languages: 

• English
• Hmong (Spring/Summer 2025)
• Spanish (Spring/Summer 2025)
• Somali (Spring/Summer 2025)

Looking for Past Report Cards?

Contact mch@umn.edu for past (2018, 2020 and 2022) MN-WHRCs.

Please fill out this form to let us know what you think of the 2024 MN-WHRC!