Manchester’s suicide rate drops; still highest in county
by Sara Swanson
The Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD) has released its annual Suicide Report detailing local suicide data trends through 2025. Once again the county’s overall rate has decreased, reaching its lowest rate since 2018. Manchester’s suicide rate has also dropped, although it remains the highest suicide rate in the county and is the only zip code that has a rate above the national Healthy People 2030 target rate goal.
The health department reports that preliminary data indicate that in 2025, 36 Washtenaw County residents died by suicide, a 12% decrease from last year. “Washtenaw County’s suicide rate remains below both the Michigan and national suicide completion rates,” says Patty Krause, MPH, WCHD community health analyst. “Our hope is that this report can inform prevention efforts and raise awareness of the importance of local mental health resources.”
Washtenaw County’s 2025 suicide rate was 9.7 suicides per 100,000 people, well under the Healthy People 2030 target rate goal of 12.9 per 100,000 people, and about half of Manchester’s rate of 18.1 per 100,000 people.
The 18.1 rate can be confusing as the 48158 zip code does not have 100,000 people. Our population is much closer to 7,500 people and the Manchester area does not have on average 18.1 completed suicides a year, but one or two completed suicides. What the rate out of 100,000 does is let us compare our suicide rate to zip codes with much larger populations.
Another factor that can be confusing is that when looking at data by zip code, there is high variability in year-to-year data so the health department looks at 3-year-average rates to calculate trends. That means they don’t look at the 2025 suicide rate for each zip code, but instead look at the average rate for 2023 to 2025 for each zip code.
Knowing all of this, what these numbers tell us is that if Manchester had four suicides over the last three years and you divided the rest of the county into groups of 7,500 people, on average every other group would have had two suicides over the last three years in comparison.
Licensed master social worker Matt Raad, who does community outreach for Ann Arbor’s VA healthcare system and focuses heavily on suicide prevention, warns that year-to-year changes should be interpreted cautiously. With small populations like Manchester’s, a single year’s events can spike or dip rates sharply. And looking back at Manchester’s numbers starting with the 2019–2021 rate of 22.4 suicides per 100,000 people (five suicides over three years), the first-year range WCHD reports rates for, Manchester’s rate does fluctuate, dropping to 13.6 in the 2021–2023 range before jumping up again to 22.6 for 2022–2024. It should be noted that even at its lowest, Manchester’s rate was higher than the county’s average rate and higher than the Healthy People 2030 target rate.
But this also means that saving one life in a community as small as our makes a big impact. And since the first report came out in 2023, local and area organizations have been working toward that goal, including Chelsea Hospital, Washtenaw County Community Mental Health, SRSLY Manchester, Community Bible Church, and the Community Resource Center.
This year a new organization is joining them. The Washtenaw Alive Suicide Prevention Coalition (WASPC), formed last fall and facilitated by the health department, is holding their first-ever event, an intergenerational dialogue on mental health here in Manchester, this Wednesday, from 6pm to 8pm, at the Manchester Junior and Senior High School, located at 20500 Dutch Dr. It will include resource tables in the commons, a one-hour panel made up of two MHS eighth-grade students, a 10th-grade student, and three Manchester senior citizens, and conclude with hands-on activities. Community members are encouraged to attend. Organizers ask that if you plan to attend and are able, that you RSVP on Eventbrite.
Celeste Kanpurwala, WASPC chair and one of the co-organizers of Wednesday’s event, explained that the suicide rate remaining the highest in Manchester compared to the rest of the county is consistent with other rural versus urban areas across the country. She stated, “Unfortunately, this is the trend in the United States for a number of reasons, including isolation, stigma, lack of access to jobs and/or healthcare, and more access to firearms.”
Raad, who is also involved in organizing the event, added, “While it’s difficult to know exactly what’s happening in the community to create higher rates, I think what Celeste mentioned is worth noting as rural communities generally share these types of challenges. It’s also important to note the efforts that are going into the western [side of the county] in trying to address these disparities.”
Alexandra Velgos, SRSLY Manchester coalition director and another co-organizer of the event, stated, “These statistics for Manchester remind us that suicide prevention must be a sustained, community-wide effort. Even with this year’s decrease, we’re still seeing elevated risk, which is why programs like SRSLY and Mental Health Awareness Training Program are important for connection, awareness, and early support.”
Free resources that are always available for Manchester:
SRSLY Manchester: A community coalition dedicated to promoting mental wellness, supporting youth, and reducing risk factors through evidence-based programming and partnerships. Website: https://www.srslymanchester.org/.
Mental Health Awareness Training Program: Free trainings to help community members recognize signs of mental-health challenges, respond confidently, and connect individuals to appropriate support. Website: https://www.trinityhealthmichigan.org/services/mental-and-behavioral-health/mhat.
Behavioral Health Navigators — Chelsea Hospital: Licensed clinicians who help patients and community members navigate the mental health system and connect with appropriate counseling, treatment, and support resources. Email: BHNavigator@trinity-health.org. Phone: 734-904-6937 or 734-680-5312.
Washtenaw County Community Mental Health: Crisis services, peer support, and behavioral health recourse. Phone: 734-544-3050
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 24/7 emotional support for anyone experiencing distress. Call or text: 988.
In addition to geographic information, the report includes more granular information on gender, age, and race. For instance, from 2023 to 2025, 87% of local suicide deaths were among white residents. Men continue to be overrepresented in suicide completions (77%), though women made up a greater proportion of non-fatal suicide attempts (53%) from 2023 to 2025. Read the full report at bit.ly/sr99-26. Visit washtenaw.org/suicide for more local data and resources.
You, as an individual, can make a difference. It’s important to know the warning signs for those at risk of suicide, including:
- Talking about wanting to die, feeling hopeless or having no purpose, feeling trapped or in unbearable pain, or being a burden to others
- Looking for a way to kill oneself
- Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs
- Acting anxious, agitated, or recklessly
- Sleeping too little or too much
- Withdrawing or feeling isolated
- Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
- Displaying extreme mood swings
If someone you know shows warning signs of suicide, assume you are the only one who will reach out. Take them seriously, talk to them in private, and ask directly if they are thinking about suicide.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911.
Map credit: Washtenaw County Medical Examiner Office and Washtenaw County Health Department.
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