Nearly half a million immigrants call Minnesota home, a population that includes citizens and non-citizens, students and workers, and refugees who fled their home countries. Minnesota has proportionally fewer immigrants compared to the nation as a whole, but we have long been a state shaped by immigration. In 2020, about 8% of Minnesotans were foreign-born, but that percentage was as high as 37% in the late 1800s. Immigration will continue to shape our communities for generations to come. Today, one in five Minnesota children is the child of an immigrant. Most of these children are native-born themselves.

Immigrants in Minnesota

Fast facts

499,000 foreign-born Minnesotans

9% of Minnesotans are immigrants, up from 5% in 2000 but down from 37% in the late 1800s.
9 %

Minnesota's largest immigrant groups

Mexican immigrants remain Minnesota's largest immigrant group, but the number of Mexican immigrants living in the state declined over the past decade. Somali immigrants are the second-largest immigrant group in Minnesota.

Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken in Minnesota

Followed by Cushite-Beja-Somali, Hmong, and Vietnamese 

Three-quarters of immigrants are working

77% of Minnesota’s foreign-born residents are working, up from 70% a decade ago.
77 %

Sources:

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. (2017-2021).