Minnesota in Maps | The Geography Laboratory

Minnesota's people are not spread evenly across the state, and neither are age, race, ethnicity, education, income, or growth. This is less a reading than a map laboratory: keep changing the map and ask what remains in the same place.

Every map and image on this page can be clicked to open a much larger version. Keyboard users can focus a map and press Enter.

Map-lab question: What makes the same handful of places keep appearing across completely different maps, and what makes certain places break the pattern?

Minnesota now

A quick statewide snapshot

Minnesota's 2025 state estimate is just under 5.9 million people. Growth since 2020 has been uneven: some outer Twin Cities counties have grown quickly while other counties have lost population. Statewide growth, in other words, is not the same thing as growth everywhere.

5,891,1092025 state population estimate

+3.2%growth since the 2020 census

32counties that lost population since 2020

Wrightfastest-growing county, +11.5%

Start with density

Where Minnesotans actually gather

A county boundary is useful for government, but people do not arrange themselves evenly inside counties. This fixed population-density map shows the broad pattern clearly: the Twin Cities dominate, regional centers form smaller knots, and the rural landscape between them is much less densely settled.

Minnesota population density by census tract — **Population density by census tract.** The metropolitan core is unmistakable, but Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud, Mankato, Moorhead, and other centers appear as smaller concentrations. Source: Minnesota State Demographic Center, based on Census data.

Interactive · Population through time

Watch the center of gravity tighten

Use the buttons rather than comparing tiny thumbnails. Each map gets the whole stage, and any map can be enlarged again with one click.

Reading these historical maps: The 1910, 1960, and 1990 panels are newly drawn maps of historical Census county totals, not reproductions of the old MnGeo GIFs. All three use the same color classes. The density button changes both the measure and the geographical unit, so its colors should not be read as a fourth year in the same series.

Modern change map

Where growth is moving now

A historical map shows where people were; a change map asks which places are gaining or losing population now. The pattern below keeps the Twin Cities important, but it also separates faster-growing outer metropolitan counties and selected regional centers from counties that have recently lost population.

Minnesota county map showing population change from 2020 to 2025 — **Population change, 2020–2025.** This atlas map uses the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 Population Estimates. The statewide snapshot at the top of this reading uses the Minnesota State Demographic Center estimate series. Those are separate official estimate programs with different methods, so their totals and growth percentages need not match exactly. That difference is itself a useful map-reading lesson: always check the source, date, denominator, and method.

Compare: How is a map of change different from a map of density? Which places become more important when the question changes?

People do not distribute themselves randomly

Dot-density maps let us ask a different question from county percentages. Instead of coloring an entire county, they show the approximate locations of individual people. The metropolitan pattern becomes much sharper, but so do smaller cities, reservations, and other concentrations that disappear in a county average.

Interactive · Six population geographies

Hold Minnesota still. Change who the dots represent.

These fixed maps are based mainly on the 2020 Census and 2021 American Community Survey. They are not meant to rank groups; they reveal how different settlement histories produce different spatial patterns.

Scale changes the story

One of the most useful habits in geography is to change scale. A county average can make a place look uniform even when its cities and townships are very different. The next four map pairs let you switch between census tracts and counties and watch information appear or disappear.

Map pair · Age

Where is Minnesota younger, and where is it aging?

Census tracts reveal younger urban and college-centered places that can disappear inside an older county average.

Map pair · Education

Universities leave spatial fingerprints too

At tract scale, higher educational attainment appears around the Twin Cities and regional university centers. County aggregation smooths much of that difference away.

Map pair · Income

The metro pattern returns, but not alone

The highest household incomes cluster strongly in the seven-county metropolitan region, while Rochester provides one conspicuous regional exception. At tract scale, the pattern becomes much more intricate.

Map pair · Poverty

Poverty is neither purely urban nor purely rural

Tract-level maps reveal pockets that county averages can blur. College towns can also look unusually poor because student cash income does not tell the whole story.

Zoom in: migration inside the Twin Cities

Statewide maps are only the beginning. Hennepin and Ramsey Counties contain many different settlement patterns inside a small metropolitan space. These maps are intentionally shown one at a time so the neighborhoods are actually readable.

Interactive · Metropolitan settlement

Three communities, three urban geographies

Three patterns to keep looking for

Metropolitan gravityPopulation, jobs, higher education, medical systems, transportation, and new housing repeatedly reinforce the Twin Cities and its outer ring.

Regional-center gravityRochester, St. Cloud, Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Bemidji, Winona, and other centers interrupt any simple metro-versus-rural story.

Historical persistenceMigration, reservations, institutions, old housing, and past economic booms leave patterns that can survive long after the original conditions have changed.

Try this: Pick two maps that look surprisingly similar, then pick two that do not. The explanation usually begins in the difference.

Quick map check

1. Why can a tract map tell a different story from a county map?

2. Why do regional centers repeatedly appear on demographic maps?

3. What is the safest way to read a demographic map?

Sources and map notes

Historical population maps, rebuilt September 22, 2026: U.S. Census Bureau, Bulletin 359, Population: Minnesota. Composition and Characteristics of the Population, Table I (1910), and 1990 Census of Population and Housing: Population and Housing Unit Counts, Minnesota, CPH-2-25, Table 3, printed pages 3–4 (1960 and 1990). All county counts sum to the published state totals: 2,075,708; 3,413,864; and 4,375,099. Census counts are historical evidence, not current estimates.

How the historical maps were drawn: Counts are joined to the U.S. county reference polygons distributed with Basemap, projected in NAD83 / UTM zone 15N and generalized for statewide display. The 1910 map combines the Lake of the Woods area with Beltrami County, as the later county did not yet exist. Other small historical boundary differences are not reconstructed. Henn. and Ram. abbreviate Hennepin and Ramsey; Wash. abbreviates Washington. The seven identical color classes map county totals, not people per square mile. These are new teaching maps, not replicas of the unavailable MnGeo originals.

State demographic maps: Minnesota State Demographic Center, Characteristic Distributions of the Population in Minnesota, using 2020 Census and 2021 ACS data for the fixed population, race/ethnicity, age, education, income, and poverty maps. The original Blogger-hosted images and their legends are retained.

Modern population-change map: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates and 2020 TIGER/Line county boundaries. This is a separate official estimate series from the Minnesota State Demographic Center snapshot used near the top of the reading; small differences between estimate programs are expected.

Twin Cities settlement maps: Peter M. Grund, 2025, using the 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A. Hmong, Somali, and Mexican population maps are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Map artwork is unchanged; direct image addresses replace the redirect addresses. They show the numbers identifying with each group per tract, not migration flows or shares of the tract population.

Current statewide snapshot: Minnesota State Demographic Center 2025 estimates, released in 2026. These are separate from the historical maps and the 2020/2021 demographic panels.

Historical county counts used in the three maps

Use this table to check a county without relying on its color. A dash means the county was not separately reported for that year. The Lake of the Woods area is included in the 1910 Beltrami count, so Beltrami's three values do not all represent the same boundary.

County	1910	1960	1990
Aitkin	10,371	12,162	12,425
Anoka	12,493	85,916	243,641
Becker	18,840	23,959	27,881
Beltrami	19,337	23,425	34,384
Benton	11,615	17,287	30,185
Big Stone	9,367	8,954	6,285
Blue Earth	29,337	44,385	54,044
Brown	20,134	27,676	26,984
Carlton	17,559	27,932	29,259
Carver	17,455	21,358	47,915
Cass	11,620	16,720	21,791
Chippewa	13,458	16,320	13,228
Chisago	13,537	13,419	30,521
Clay	19,640	39,080	50,422
Clearwater	6,870	8,864	8,309
Cook	1,336	3,377	3,868
Cottonwood	12,651	16,166	12,694
Crow Wing	16,861	32,134	44,249
Dakota	25,171	78,303	275,227
Dodge	12,094	13,259	15,731
Douglas	17,669	21,313	28,674
Faribault	19,949	23,685	16,937
Fillmore	25,680	23,768	20,777
Freeborn	22,282	37,891	33,060
Goodhue	31,637	33,035	40,690
Grant	9,114	8,870	6,246
Hennepin	333,480	842,854	1,032,431
Houston	14,297	16,588	18,497
Hubbard	9,831	9,962	14,939
Isanti	12,615	13,530	25,921
Itasca	17,208	38,006	40,863
Jackson	14,491	15,501	11,677
Kanabec	6,461	9,007	12,802
Kandiyohi	18,969	29,987	38,761
Kittson	9,669	8,343	5,767
Koochiching	6,431	18,190	16,299
Lac qui Parle	15,435	13,330	8,924
Lake	8,011	13,702	10,415
Lake of the Woods	—	4,304	4,076
Le Sueur	18,609	19,906	23,239
Lincoln	9,874	9,651	6,890
Lyon	15,722	22,655	24,789
McLeod	18,691	24,401	32,030
Mahnomen	3,249	6,341	5,044
Marshall	16,338	14,262	10,993
Martin	17,518	26,986	22,914
Meeker	17,022	18,887	20,846
Mille Lacs	10,705	14,560	18,670
Morrison	24,053	26,641	29,604
Mower	22,640	48,498	37,385
Murray	11,755	14,743	9,660
Nicollet	14,125	23,196	28,076
Nobles	15,210	23,365	20,098
Norman	13,446	11,253	7,975
Olmsted	22,497	65,532	106,470
Otter Tail	46,036	48,960	50,714
Pennington	9,376	12,468	13,306
Pine	15,878	17,004	21,264
Pipestone	9,553	13,605	10,491
Polk	36,001	36,182	32,498
Pope	12,746	11,914	10,745
Ramsey	223,675	422,525	485,765
Red Lake	6,564	5,830	4,525
Redwood	18,425	21,718	17,254
Renville	23,123	23,249	17,673
Rice	25,911	38,988	49,183
Rock	10,222	11,864	9,806
Roseau	11,338	12,154	15,026
St. Louis	163,274	231,588	198,213
Scott	14,888	21,909	57,846
Sherburne	8,136	12,861	41,945
Sibley	15,540	16,228	14,366
Stearns	47,733	80,345	118,791
Steele	16,146	25,029	30,729
Stevens	8,293	11,262	10,634
Swift	12,949	14,936	10,724
Todd	23,407	23,119	23,363
Traverse	8,049	7,503	4,463
Wabasha	18,554	17,007	19,744
Wadena	8,652	12,199	13,154
Waseca	13,466	16,041	18,079
Washington	26,013	52,432	145,896
Watonwan	11,382	14,460	11,682
Wilkin	9,063	10,650	7,516
Winona	33,398	40,937	47,828
Wright	28,082	29,935	68,710
Yellow Medicine	15,406	15,523	11,684

Map viewing: The three historical maps are embedded in this page. The other images use their original image hosts. Click a map, or focus it and press Enter, to enlarge it; press Escape to close. An image-host error produces a retry message rather than an unexplained blank panel.