Minnesota gains population but might still lose a House seat

Minnesota's population grew last year and now tops 5.6 million people, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

The figures show a growth of 43,000 people between 2017 and 2018, or about 0.8 percent. Some of that stems from migration of people from other states, some from people coming here from abroad and some from having more births than deaths.

The estimates give Minnesota some sense of where it stands a little more than year out from the 2020 Census. That hard count will determine whether Minnesota keeps eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. It also figures into allocations of federal funding.

It's a second year of gains from domestic migration after five years of net population loss before that.

Overall, though, the state's population growth may not be strong enough to keep Minnesota from losing a House seat.

While "very strong for a Midwestern state ... other regions are growing much faster than the Midwest and Minnesota's moderate population growth since the last census puts it at risk for losing a congressional seat," State Demographer Susan Brower said in a statement. "A faster-growing state like Texas is poised to gain two congressional seats after the 2020 Census count."

The report underscores the "importance for Minnesota to count every person in the 2020 Census," Administration Commissioner Matt Massman in a statement.