by Erik White
July 2018
Recently released data from the Census Bureau shows that the population in Minnesota has increased by 51,556 people in the last year and has experienced a growth rate of 5.1 percent since 2010 with the addition of 272,682 residents. Population growth is an important driver of economic sustainability, especially in a tight labor market where employers are struggling to fill vacant job openings, and Minnesota’s expanding population is a positive sign.
However, not all areas of the state are benefiting from the influx of new residents. For example, Northeast and Southwest Minnesota have experienced population declines since 2010, while much of the population growth is concentrated in the Twin Cities Metro Area.
Adding details of the components of population change -which include natural increase and net migration- can provide additional insights to population trends facing Minnesota Hover over the map and bar chart below to explore population change for Minnesota counties and the components that make it up based on Census Bureau’s 2017 Population Estimates.
