Epilepsy by County¶
Page updated
One row for each of Minnesota's 87 counties: how many residents are estimated to have epilepsy, whether the school districts post a seizure plan, how close specialist care is, and how many deaths mention epilepsy or seizures.
These are estimates
No Minnesota agency counts people with epilepsy by county. The figures apply published rates to census counts. A school district that posts no plan can still have one on file.
Request the data¶
The full county file has 42 columns for each county, including the House and Senate districts that cover it. It is available on request. Write to edanmnorg@gmail.com and tell us who you are and how you plan to use it.
What stands out¶
- 79 of 87 counties have no child neurologist practicing in them. About 2.6 million Minnesotans live in those counties, and an estimated 3,500 of the children there have epilepsy.
- 70 counties have no neurologist of any kind.
- In 35 counties, no school district posts a seizure plan.
- In 18 counties the number of deaths that mention epilepsy or seizures over seven years is under 10, so the CDC does not release it.
How the numbers are built¶
| Figure | Method | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Residents with epilepsy | 1.10 percent of residents 18 and over, plus 0.6 percent of residents under 18 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, active epilepsy estimates, 2015 (MMWR 2017) |
| Population by age | County estimates for July 1, 2025 | U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates |
| School districts and seizure plans | Each school district is counted in the county of its district office | The Audit; National Center for Education Statistics for enrollment |
| Neurologists and pharmacies in the county | Providers with a Minnesota practice address, placed in a county by ZIP code | Federal NPI registry |
| Nearest child neurologist | Straight-line miles from each school district office; the table shows the middle district | Federal NPI registry |
| Ambulance time | Minutes within which 9 in 10 emergency calls had an ambulance on scene, 2023 | Minnesota Office of Emergency Medical Services |
| Deaths | Death certificates that mention epilepsy or seizures (ICD-10 G40, G41, R56), Minnesota residents, 2018 to 2024 | CDC WONDER, Multiple Cause of Death |
| Type of county | Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023 | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
What to keep in mind¶
- A provider is counted where the practice ZIP code mostly lies. A ZIP code that crosses a county line is counted in one county only, and a specialist may see patients in clinics outside the listed address.
- A county with no child neurologist may sit next to one that has several. The distance column is the better guide to how far a family travels.
- Death counts depend on what certifiers write. They are counts of certificates and say nothing about how many deaths were sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. See SUDEP.
- The audit covers the 329 regular school districts. Charter schools are not in it.