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.
Fast facts
499,000 foreign-born Minnesotans
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 languages in the language family containing Somali and Oromo, then by Hmong and Vietnamese.
Three-quarters of immigrants are working
Minnesota's immigrants at a glance
Explore data by immigrant group
Immigrant group Sort ascending | Population |
---|---|
All immigrants | 470,387 |
Vietnamese immigrants | 16,078 |
Thai Immigrants | 2,909 |
Somali immigrants | 42,503 |
Salvadoran immigrants | 7,302 |
Russian immigrants | 8,107 |
Nigerian immigrants | 6,551 |
Mexican immigrants | 59,137 |
Liberian immigrants | 12,446 |
Laotian immigrants | 6,796 |
Korean immigrants | 13,727 |
Kenyan immigrants | 11,181 |
Indian immigrants | 30,632 |
Hmong immigrants | 29,034 |
Guatemalan immigrants | 6,619 |
German immigrants | 6,811 |
Filipino immigrants | 9,936 |
Ethiopian immigrants | 22,453 |
Ecuadorian immigrants | 6,703 |
Chinese immigrants | 17,746 |
Canadian immigrants | 11,179 |
Burmese immigrants | 12,480 |
Sources:
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. (2017-2021).