by Megan Chmielewski and Allison Liuzzi
We’re marking the end of summer at Minnesota Compass with the Minnesota State Fair, our kids’ return to school, and, yes, a flood of new data for measures across our site!
In the past month, our Compass team has updated key measures on our website that track progress in reading proficiency, math proficiency, economic output, and traffic safety. Last week, we also saw the release of new 2024 data from the American Community Survey, which feeds a host of key measures in our economy, health, housing, and workforce topic areas. We’ve been busy and the data are still coming!
We’ve put together a summary of top-level findings from these recent updates, and it is a mixed bag, with some good news, some bad, and some in between.
The good news
Workforce participation is high. (Like, really high.)
With 79% of adults working, workforce participation is at the highest we’ve seen in the last few decades. Minnesota continues to have one of the highest rates of workforce participation in the nation, statistically tied for first with neighboring states North Dakota and South Dakota.
We have seen decades-long improvement in traffic safety.
Minnesota continues to see declines in the rate of people injured or killed in traffic accidents, with 418 injuries or deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024. There are ongoing geographic disparities in this measure: Injuries are more common in the Twin Cities, where there tends to be more traffic, but fatalities are much more frequent in greater Minnesota, where hospitals may be farther away.
The bad news
Household income isn’t keeping up with inflation.
In Minnesota, median household income has fallen relative to inflation over the past five years, from $91,500 in 2019 to $87,100 by 2024. In other words, the average household in Minnesota has $4,400 less in income today than they did five years ago.
The story is different at a national level, where median household income largely held steady between 2019 and 2023, before increasing in the past year.
3rd grade reading proficiency is heading in the wrong direction.
Less than half of Minnesota’s 3rd graders – 46% – meet or exceed state standards in reading. This represents a years-long downward trend in statewide reading proficiency. This indicator was pointed in the wrong direction for several years before the onset of the pandemic, with declines accelerating during and following pandemic distance learning.
But keep in mind that 2025 results on reading proficiency are for 3rd graders who did not experience mandatory remote K-3 schooling during the pandemic. In other words, steady learning losses may go beyond explanations related to distance learning.
And the news that falls somewhere in between
8th grade math proficiency is pointed in the right direction, but progress is slow.
Less than half of Minnesota’s 8th graders – 42% – meet or exceed state standards in math. This falls well below pre-pandemic levels of math proficiency, which stood at 55% just before the start of the pandemic.
Nevertheless, we have seen very small but steady increases in math proficiency in recent years, with a 2 percentage point increase in math proficiency between 2021 and 2025.
Economic output is high, but economic growth has slowed.
Economic output (or Gross Domestic Product, GDP) is at the highest levels our state has ever seen, but economic growth in Minnesota has been slower than the nation as a whole. Last year marked the first time in at least a quarter century that per capita GDP in the U.S. exceeded that of Minnesota.
A similar story – and a similar cautionary headline – emerged when Greater MSP launched its 2025 Regional Indicators Dashboard last month. The takeaway: Economic growth has slowed statewide and in the Twin Cities, and our ranking relative to other states and metropolitan areas has fallen.
Poverty and housing affordability remain steady. (Or stubbornly flat.)
In recent years, measures of household economic stability – poverty and housing cost burden—have remained steady. But because no movement is no progress, we can also describe the trends on these measures as stubbornly flat.
Minnesota has one of the lowest poverty rates in the nation, with poverty rates that have hovered around 9% since before the pandemic. Our poverty rate remains below the national poverty rate (12%), but the national poverty rate has been falling since 2021 while our statewide rate has remained stubbornly flat.
Similarly, a smaller share of Minnesota households is housing cost-burdened, paying 30% or more of their income for housing, compared to the nation as a whole. However, our housing cost-burden is higher than it was five years ago and has remained stubbornly flat in the past two years. Housing cost burden is experienced disproportionately by renters and by younger and lower-income Minnesotans.
More to come
Minnesota Compass kicks off each spring with our Compass Points summary of trends in Minnesota’s quality of life. But in our rapidly changing social and policy landscape, we see value in checking in mid-year and taking a look at which indicators are pointing in the right direction. At this point, we are seeing positive signs around workforce engagement and safety, worrying signs in education, and signs for slowing growth in our economy.
There are many more updates coming soon, including data on small areas in early December and a refreshed health topic area early next year. We encourage you to stay connected to Minnesota Compass throughout the year!
- Bookmark our website so you can easily return to access content and resources. (In your browser, just look for the star icon (★) on the right side of the address bar.)
- Sign up for our newsletter to get a monthly round-up of the latest trends, articles, and events from the Compass team.
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- Reach out to ask a question, request a presentation, or let us know how you are using Minnesota Compass data to strengthen your organizations and communities.
