Featured trends
Our researchers spotlight interesting trends as they update data on the site.
About 6 in 10 Minnesota students meet state standards in 3rd grade reading, 5th grade science, and 8th grade math. Trends in student achievement across all three measures of proficiency have been flat since 2013. Large gaps by race and income persist, and the gap in 8th grade math proficiency by income has widened.
See more data on student proficiencies in math and reading.
Across the 50 states, Minnesota ranks 1st in voter-eligible turnout and 3rd in volunteerism. But, we're going to have to work to retain our national rankings. Voter-eligible turnout declined from 78 percent in the 2008 election to 74 percent in the 2016 election. Rates of volunteerism have held steady in recent years, but total annual volunteer hours have declined since the start of the decade. In 2015, Minnesotans contributed 48 million fewer hours of volunteer time than in 2010. That's the equivalent of more than 23,000 full-time work positions.
See more data on volunteerism.
Currently at 26 percent, the share of Minnesota households paying 30 percent or more of their income for housing has been trending downward in recent years. But looking more closely, only owner households have seen a decline in housing cost burden. The share of renter households paying too much for housing has remained steady since 2007.
See more data on cost-burdened households.
Statewide, we expect no growth in our working-age population (age 18-64) over the next two decades. By region, the working-age population is only expected to grow in the Twin Cities. All other regions of the state expect to see declines through 2030.
See more population trends by age.
Most of Minnesota's major cities (10,000+ residents) saw no change in median household income between the 2007-2011 and 2012-2016 time periods, according to new five-year estimates from the American Community Survey. But 8 of 97 major cities in Minnesota saw median household income increase and seven major cities saw median household income decline.
See more median income trends.
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Eight percent of adults in Minnesota have diagnosed diabetes. Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among Minnesota's adults is consistently lower than the national average, which stood at nearly 11 percent in 2016. Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes tends to decline among adults at higher household income levels.
View more about Minnesotans with diabetes.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. There are nearly 600,000 Minnesotans with at least one disability, an increase of 100,000 residents with disabilities since 2008. About half of that net increase is due to growth in the number of working-age adults (18-64) with disabilities.
View more about Minnesotans with disabilities, and those age 65 and above with disabilities.
Today, at least one in five residents is an older adult in 39 of Minnesota's 87 counties. It will be 59 counties by 2020 and 80 counties by 2030, according to projections. Counties in the Twin Cities 7-county region are expected to stay below the 20-percent-older-adults mark for the next few decades.
Over the past decade, the proportion of Minnesota students graduating from high school on time has increased by nearly 7 percentage points. Black and Hispanic students' on-time graduation rates have each increased by 24 percentage points in the past decade, from 41 percent in 2006 to 65 percent in 2016. Graduation rates continue to be lower for Minnesota students of color than white students.
Minnesota and the U.S. as a whole saw a substantial drop in the number and proportion of residents without health insurance between 2013 and 2015. In Minnesota, 242,798 (5.2%) residents under age 65 lacked health insurance in 2015, down from 436,000 (9.3%) in 2013. Nationally, the rate dropped nearly 6 percentage points.
MORE Insights
Recent articles highlighting key trends and issues:
Race data disaggregation: What does it mean? Why does it matter?
On the road with Minnesota Compass
Data Update
Since 2010, population has remained steady or grown in 60 of Minnesota's 87 counties. Scott and Carver Counties have seen the greatest population growth over the last seven years.
The share of residents without health insurance has declined in every Minnesota county and region since 2013. Today, uninsured rates range from 3 percent in Carver County to 10 percent in Nobles County.
Minnesota has experienced eight straight years of growth in economic output (GDP). The manufacturing industry is responsible for the largest share of Minnesota's economic output.
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