Welcome To
Minnesota Compass
By tracking and analyzing trends in areas that affect our quality of life, Compass gives everyone in our state – policymakers, business and community leaders, and concerned individuals who live and work here – a common foundation to act on issues to improve our communities. More >
annual meeting
Minnesota Next: Millennials, leadership, and the information economy -- Highlights, videos, photos, presentations, and handouts from our annual meeting on Feb. 11.
Ask a researcher
6 surprising trends about Minnesota's millennials
Researchers Craig Helmstetter and Jane Tigan dug into data specific to millennials and found some interesting surprises.
STEM section
STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) section in Education topic: Find data, benchmarks, and best practices.
New! STEM white papers on race, income, and gender disparities.
New in our Library
- STEM in Minnesota: Education and Workforce Disparities by Race/Ethnicity, Income, and Gender
- Reforming Subsidized Housing Policy in the Twin Cities to Cut Costs and Reduce Segregation
- Road to Success: Tales of Great Schools
- Chart Book: The War on Poverty at 50
- Through a Different Lens: The War on Poverty and a New Vision for the Future
RSS FeedFor discussion
Compass Project Director Paul Mattessich provides his forecast of key trends that will impact Minnesota in 2014.
New data
Blaine was Minnesota's fastest-growing city from 2010 to 2012. It grew 5.3%, adding 3,013 people.
From December 2012 to December 2013, North Dakota saw the greatest growth in jobs (3.9%) while Minnesota came 15th among states with 1.7% year-to-year job growth.
In December 2013, there was a 0.4% decline for Minnesota--and a 0.2% decline for the US--in the number of non-seasonally adjusted monthly jobs.
Twin Cities GDP increased 4% last year, ranked the 13-county area 7th for GDP among US metros.
St. Cloud saw the largest increase by percent, and Fargo-Moorhead the largest by dollar amount, for last year's per capita GDP.
The current Minnesota state population is 5.4 million.
Minnesota's population increased by 41,000 people from 2012 to 2013.
Minnesota ranks 21st among states for population growth from 2012 to 2013.
Every region in Minnesota has seen an increase in the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher.
Last updated March 3, 2014
