Demographics of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Encyclopedia
Minneapolis is the largest city
in the U.S. state
of Minnesota
and the county seat
of Hennepin County
. As of the 2010 Census, the population of Minneapolis was 385,378
In 1950, approximately 70.0% of the metropolitan area's population was concentrated in the two core cities of Minneapolis and its twin city, St. Paul, Minnesota. By 2010, the two cities held only 20.0% of the metropolitan area total population. Increased housing production such as the construction of condominium
s has brought Downtown Minneapolis' population to a little over 30,000 inhabitants.
According to the 2010 Census, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the age distribution was as follows.
Source:
. In addition, 4.8% of family households were made up of a male householder with no wife present and 11.4% were made up of a female householder with no husband present. Non-family households were 54.7% of all households. Of the non-family households, 42.7% were made up of a householder living alone and 7.4% were made up of a householder living alone who was 65 years of age and over. The average household size is 2.22 and the average family size is 3.11.
Though jobs are leaving the city, Minneapolis has a highly educated work force. The share of adults in the labor force was 70.0% and the recorded low unemployment rate was 4.7% in 2002. However, racial and ethnic minorities lag behind White
counterparts with 15.0% of African American
s and 13.0% of Hispanic
s holding bachelor's degree
s, compared to 42.0% of European Americans. About 15.8% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those aged 65 or over.
Regionally, the population is continuing to decentralize away from Minneapolis, relocating families and middle to upper income brackets outside the city. Growth in the middle class has been slow with the 2000 median household income at $37,974 and the median family income at $48,602. However, the median household income now stands at $44,478 and the median family income now stands at $59,816.
, the racial composition was as follows:
Source:
From 1800 to about 1950, Minneapolis hovered around 90.0% white
. As of the 2000 Census, non-Hispanic whites represented 62.5% of Minneapolis's population. Since the 1950s, the city has been diversifying. Immigrants from countries such as Somalia
, Ethiopia
, Vietnam
, Laos
, Cambodia
, and other countries have brought Minneapolis a more ethnically diverse population. According to the recent 2006-2008 estimates, non-Hispanic whites now represent 64.2% of Minneapolis's population, up from the 2000 figure. Most major American cities are gaining minorities and losing whites. However, out of the nation's 100 largest cities, Minneapolis is one of seventeen cities in which the trend has halted or even reversed.
Blacks have quietly settled as early as the late 19th century after the American Civil War
when northern cities were seen as havens from the cultural politics of the South. However, blacks who did not gain mobility into the middle-class were concentrated in public housing ghettos. This resulted in a lawsuit in the 1990s and public housing was subsequently dispersed in the metropolitan area. After the 1960s when much of the white flight
occurred, the black population largely settled in North Minneapolis.
Asian
s historically did not have a significant presence, but there are roughly 17,700 Asians in Minneapolis today, and their influence is growing. Their history began with labor workers working on railroads in the late 19th century who resettled in Minneapolis. These were mostly southern Chinese
and in time brought families and others seeking fortune. The 20th century saw movement from other parts of East Asia
including Hong Kong
, Taiwan
, Japan
, and Korea
. U.S. events in that region resulted in a greater influx of these populations, though Minneapolis only saw a small portion of the immigration, as most of these immigrants settled in California
. Chinese dominated the group until the Vietnam War generated a large refugee migration into South Minneapolis in the 1970s. This followed with Southeast Asia
ns who experienced the effects of other U.S. incidents in that area. The Hmong
nomadic clans were offered settlement and though most of that ethnic group went to St. Paul, Minneapolis received a significant share. As a result, the 2000 Census reported 13,883 people who marked "Other Asian" in the tic box, half of the Asian American group, while Chinese numbered at 2,447 people. As of the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, there are 8,315 who were of the "Other Asian" group and there were 2,925 Chinese American
s residing in Minneapolis.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Hennepin County
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...
. As of the 2010 Census, the population of Minneapolis was 385,378
Population and age
The population of Minneapolis has declined since its peak of 521,718 in 1950, with a small rebound between the periods of 1990 to 2000 and 2000 to 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau reported 385,378 in 2010, up from 382,618 in the 2000 Census. In contrast, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area including the suburbs doubled in population since 1950 and now has approximately 3.5 million residents.In 1950, approximately 70.0% of the metropolitan area's population was concentrated in the two core cities of Minneapolis and its twin city, St. Paul, Minnesota. By 2010, the two cities held only 20.0% of the metropolitan area total population. Increased housing production such as the construction of condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s has brought Downtown Minneapolis' population to a little over 30,000 inhabitants.
According to the 2010 Census, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the age distribution was as follows.
- Under 5 years: 7.3%
- 5–9 years: 5.4%
- 10–14 years: 4.9%
- 15–19 years: 7.0%
- 20–24 years: 9.7%
- 25–34 years: 18.2%
- 35–44 years: 15.9%
- 45–54 years: 14.1%
- 55–59 years: 5.4%
- 60–64 years: 3.7%
- 65–74 years: 3.9%
- 75–84 years: 3.0%
- 85 years and over: 1.6%
- Median age: 33.7 years
Source:
Households and families
According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey, there were a total of 155,155 households out of which 45.3% were family households and 54.7% were non-family households. Of the family households, 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them while 29.1% were married couplesMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
. In addition, 4.8% of family households were made up of a male householder with no wife present and 11.4% were made up of a female householder with no husband present. Non-family households were 54.7% of all households. Of the non-family households, 42.7% were made up of a householder living alone and 7.4% were made up of a householder living alone who was 65 years of age and over. The average household size is 2.22 and the average family size is 3.11.
Income, employment and disparity
After the recent boom of the 1990s, Minneapolis still lags behind its suburban counterparts in terms of income and employment. Job growth was double in suburban areas and with it, the labor force is growing faster outside the city. Though city wages are exceeding regional jobs, most of the increases are in the downtown area and in corporate industries where employees may not necessarily live inside the city. When downtown is excluded from the statistics, Minneapolis' neighborhood wages are 92.0% of their suburban counterparts. Neighborhoods have gained 5,300 jobs since 1996 but the industry makeup has changed with stable manufacturing and trade jobs losing the most in favor of education, health and service jobs.Though jobs are leaving the city, Minneapolis has a highly educated work force. The share of adults in the labor force was 70.0% and the recorded low unemployment rate was 4.7% in 2002. However, racial and ethnic minorities lag behind White
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
counterparts with 15.0% of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s and 13.0% of Hispanic
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
s holding bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
s, compared to 42.0% of European Americans. About 15.8% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those aged 65 or over.
Regionally, the population is continuing to decentralize away from Minneapolis, relocating families and middle to upper income brackets outside the city. Growth in the middle class has been slow with the 2000 median household income at $37,974 and the median family income at $48,602. However, the median household income now stands at $44,478 and the median family income now stands at $59,816.
Race and ethnicity
As of the 2006-2008 American Community SurveyAmerican Community Survey
The American Community Survey is an ongoing statistical survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, sent to approximately 250,000 addresses monthly . It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census...
, the racial composition was as follows:
- WhiteWhite AmericanWhite Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
: 70.2% (Non-Hispanic WhitesNon-Hispanic WhitesNon-Hispanic Whites or White, Not Hispanic or Latino are people in the United States, as defined by the Census Bureau, who are of the White race and are not of Hispanic or Latino origin/ethnicity. Hence the designation is exclusive in the sense that it defines who is not included as opposed to who is...
: 64.2%) - Black or African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
: 17.4% - American IndianNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
: 1.7% - AsianAsian AmericanAsian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
: 4.9% - Native HawaiianNative HawaiiansNative Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
/Pacific IslanderPacific Islander AmericanPacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
: 0.0% - Some other race: 2.8%
- Two or more racesMultiracial AmericanMultiracial Americans, US residents who identify themselves as of "two or more races", were numbered at around 9 million, or 2.9% of the population, in the census of 2010. However there is considerable evidence that the real number is far higher. Prior to the mid-20th century many people hid their...
: 3.0%
- Hispanic or LatinoHispanic and Latino AmericansHispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
(of any race): 9.2%
Source:
From 1800 to about 1950, Minneapolis hovered around 90.0% white
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
. As of the 2000 Census, non-Hispanic whites represented 62.5% of Minneapolis's population. Since the 1950s, the city has been diversifying. Immigrants from countries such as Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, and other countries have brought Minneapolis a more ethnically diverse population. According to the recent 2006-2008 estimates, non-Hispanic whites now represent 64.2% of Minneapolis's population, up from the 2000 figure. Most major American cities are gaining minorities and losing whites. However, out of the nation's 100 largest cities, Minneapolis is one of seventeen cities in which the trend has halted or even reversed.
Blacks have quietly settled as early as the late 19th century after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
when northern cities were seen as havens from the cultural politics of the South. However, blacks who did not gain mobility into the middle-class were concentrated in public housing ghettos. This resulted in a lawsuit in the 1990s and public housing was subsequently dispersed in the metropolitan area. After the 1960s when much of the white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
occurred, the black population largely settled in North Minneapolis.
Asian
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
s historically did not have a significant presence, but there are roughly 17,700 Asians in Minneapolis today, and their influence is growing. Their history began with labor workers working on railroads in the late 19th century who resettled in Minneapolis. These were mostly southern Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
and in time brought families and others seeking fortune. The 20th century saw movement from other parts of East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
including Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. U.S. events in that region resulted in a greater influx of these populations, though Minneapolis only saw a small portion of the immigration, as most of these immigrants settled in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Chinese dominated the group until the Vietnam War generated a large refugee migration into South Minneapolis in the 1970s. This followed with Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
ns who experienced the effects of other U.S. incidents in that area. The Hmong
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
nomadic clans were offered settlement and though most of that ethnic group went to St. Paul, Minneapolis received a significant share. As a result, the 2000 Census reported 13,883 people who marked "Other Asian" in the tic box, half of the Asian American group, while Chinese numbered at 2,447 people. As of the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, there are 8,315 who were of the "Other Asian" group and there were 2,925 Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
s residing in Minneapolis.