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Minnesota News
Craig Helmstetter

Minnesota's population bounces back: 5 takeaways from latest census estimates

Census Bureau population estimates, annual growth patterns by state 2023v2
The latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates show a continued return to pre-pandemic population growth patterns — including in Minnesota, which is growing again.
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Minnesota’s population is growing again after a slight fall in the prior year, according to new population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. The state’s population is now estimated to be 5,737,915, up by nearly 24,000 from 2022 to 2023.

1) After losing population last year, Minnesota is growing again

According to the new estimates, Minnesota is one of 11 states that lost population in 2022 but gained population in 2023. Minnesota has now more than made up for its temporary downtick of nearly 4,000 people in 2022, gaining 23,615 people in 2023.

The state’s 0.4 percent population growth rate in 2023 is right in the middle of the rest of the country, ranking 25th highest among states. South Carolina had the nation’s fastest growth rate at 1.7 percent, while New York proportionally lost the most at 0.5 percent.

2) Minnesota is not growing quite as fast as the nation as a whole

Minnesota’s growth rate in 2023, 0.4 percent, was just barely below that of the nation as a whole, 0.5 percent. However, Minnesota’s growth rate also lagged behind the nation’s for the two previous years. In fact, according to data assembled by Minnesota Compass, Minnesota has grown more slowly than the nation as a whole every decade dating back to at least 1940, with the exception of 2010 to 2020.

3) Wisconsin remains slightly larger than Minnesota

With more than 5.9 million people, Wisconsin is the only border state that outnumbers Minnesota. Looking further east, however, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois all have populations significantly larger than Minnesota. The latest Census Bureau estimates put Minnesota as the 22nd largest state, the same rank since at least 2020, right below Colorado and above South Carolina for at least those four years in a row.

4) But Minnesota’s population grew slightly faster than Wisconsin’s in 2023

Among nearby midwestern states, the 2023 population growth rate was higher to Minnesota’s west in Nebraska, North Dakota and especially South Dakota. Illinois was the only remaining population loser among this group of nine midwestern states.

Census Bureau estimates also suggest the gopher state grew just barely faster than the badger state, not only in percentage terms (0.4 percent compared to 0.3 percent), but also in raw numbers (23,615 compared to 20,412).

5) Minnesota’s population is now nearly twice what it was in 1950

Minnesota’s population was just under 3 million in 1950. The Census Bureau’s latest population estimates show the state is now nearly double that number. But Minnesota’s growth rate is projected to slow. After growing by 1.8 million people, or nearly 50 percent, over the past half-century, Minnesota is projected to add under 900,000, only an additional 14 percent more people, over the next 50 years.