New Americans in the North Star State

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Minnesota.

Immigrants and their children are growing shares of Minnesota’s population and electorate.

• The foreign-born share of Minnesota’s population rose from 2.6% in 1990 [1], to 5.3% in 2000 [1], to 6.5% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Minnesota was home to 340,657 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is nearly the population of St. Louis, Missouri [3].

• 44.5% of immigrants (or 151,485 people) in Minnesota were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 3.5% (or 100,171) of registered voters in Minnesota were “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates [4].

Roughly 1 in 13 Minnesotans are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Minnesota’s population grew from 1.2% in 1990 [5], to 2.9% in 2000 [5], to 4.1% (or 214,036 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.8%  in 1990 [6], to 2.9% in 2000 [6], to 3.5% (or 182,714 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Asians comprised 2.0% (or 56,000) of Minnesota voters in the 2008 elections, and Latinos accounted for 1.3% (or 35,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7]. 

• In Minnesota, more than four in five (or 85% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [8], according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany.

Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs to Minnesota’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Minnesota’s Asians totaled $5.4 billion—an increase of 589.2% since 1990.  Latino buying power totaled $4.8 billion—an increase of 843.7% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [9] at the University of Georgia.

• Minnesota’s 7,700 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $1.8 billion and employed 16,887 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 3,984 Latino-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $462.7 million and employed 4,596 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Minnesota’s diverse immigrant population adds hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s economy.

• In the Twin Cities metro area, 138 immigrant-owned businesses created 386 new jobs and spent $5.6 million on payroll, rent, and supplies in 2002, according to a study [12] from the University of Minnesota.

• More than 1,000 Mexican-American businesses operated in Minnesota, generating an estimated $200 million in sales; while Latino workers employed in south-central agricultural industries added nearly $25 million to the local economy, according to a 2004 report [13] by the Minneapolis Foundation.

• More than 16,000 Asian-Indians living in Minnesota accounted for $500 million in consumer purchasing power, paid $5.2 million in real estate taxes and $2.3 million in rent, and owned 400 companies that employed more than 6,000 people, according to the same report [14].

• Minnesota was home to 60,000 Hmong, whose businesses generated an estimated $100 million in revenue, according to the same report [15].

• Minnesota is home to the country’s largest Somali population, which numbered roughly 15,000 [16] people as of 2002.  Somalis in Minnesota accounted for $164 million in buying power [17] and owned 600 businesses [17] as of 2006.

Immigrants are integral to Minnesota’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 7.5% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 224,273 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Immigrants accounted for 8% of total economic output in the Minneapolis metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute [18].  In fact, “immigrants contribute to the economy in direct relation to their share of the population.  The economy of metro areas grows in tandem with the immigrant share of the labor force.”

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 2.3% of the state’s workforce (or 70,000 workers) in 2008 [19], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Minnesota, the state would lose $4.4 billion in economic activity, $2.0 billion in gross state product, and approximately 24,299 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [20].

Immigrants are integral to Minnesota’s economy as students.

• Minnesota’s 10,848 foreign students contributed $232.8 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators [21].

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In Minnesota, 36.3% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [22] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 28.5% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 19.0% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 33.8% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in Minnesota with a college degree increased by 63.4% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [22] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Minnesota, 68.5% of all children between the ages of 5 and 17 in families that spoke a language other than English at home also spoke English “very well” as of 2008 [23].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Thu, Oct 15, 2009 | Download File [24]