The annual cost for single premium (i.e. employee-only) health insurance coverage for private sector employers in the North Central region of the U.S. is mostly lower than national average levels. Single premium health insurance rates for small firms, with fewer than 50 employees, in all seven states in the region are, on average, below the average rate for similar sized employers nationally. This also is true for larger employers in the region, except in Minnesota and South Dakota. A deeper look at the data from the most recent Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2019), which is administered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, tells us the following about private sector employee-only health premium costs in the North Central region and nationally:
| State | (1) Small Firms | (2) Large Firms | Overall Avg. |
| IA | $5,989 | $6,788 | $6,657 |
| KS | $5,907 | $6,431 | $6,338 |
| MN | $6,419 | $6,990 | $6,904 |
| MO | $6,366 | $6,904 | $6,800 |
| NE | $6,402 | $6,668 | $6,628 |
| ND | $6,864 | $6,630 | $6,681 |
| SD | $6,903 | $7,226 | $7,161 |
| U.S. | $6,920 | $6,983 | $6,972 |
