Michigan Cancer Trends: Where Rates Are Above Average

While federal statistics reveal that Michigan has a lower than average cancer rate compared to the United States as a whole, there are several counties within the Mitten State that buck that trend.

According to the National Cancer Institute, data collected between 2017 and 2021 (the most recent years available) indicates that about 444 out of every 100,000 Americans are diagnosed with a form of cancer each year.

Cancer Rates in Michigan vs. U.S. Average

In Michigan, an average of about 441 residents out of every 100,000 were diagnosed with some sort of cancer during that same period. While that may not seem like much of a difference, it is statistically significant when you consider that roughly 10 million people call the state home.

Most Common Types of Cancer in Michigan

Between 2017 and 2021, roughly 35.7% of cancer diagnoses in the state of Michigan were for breast cancer. The second-most commonly diagnosed cancer in the state was prostate cancer (26%), followed by lung and bronchial cancers (13.3%).

When the statistics are broken down by county in Michigan, some interesting patterns emerge. The vast majority of the counties with the highest levels of cancer diagnoses are clustered in Northern Michigan, from the Alpena and Grayling areas southward to around Saginaw.

Incidence rates of cancer per county in Michigan between 2017 and 2021, as reported at cancer.gov. (Graphic via cancer.gov)

Much of the Detroit area has a higher-than-average cancer rate, but other metropolitan areas around Michigan including Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint and Kalamazoo are actually below the state and national averages.