Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Minnesota

Population

Minnesota's population distribution

From fewer than 6,120 people in 1850, Minnesota's population grew to over 1.7 million by 1900. Each of the next six decades saw a 15 percent increase in population, reaching 3.4 million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11 percent to 3.8 million in 1970, and an average of 9 percent over the next three decades to 4.9 million in the 2000 Census.^[56] The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Minnesota was 5,489,594 on July 1, 2015, a 3.5 percent increase since the 2010 United States Census.^[57] The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota's center of population is in Hennepin County.^[58]

Race and ancestry

The state's estimated racial composition in the 2011 American Census Bureau estimate was:^[59]

• White American: 86.9% (Non-Hispanic Whites 83.1%, White Hispanic 3.8%)
• African American: 5.4%
• American Indian and Alaska Native: 1.1%
• Asian: 4.0%
• Pacific Islander: 0.0%
• Other races: 2.4%
• Multiracial: 1.8%

Hispanics or Latinos made up 6.7 percent of the population.
In 2011, non-Hispanic whites were involved in 72.3 percent of all the births.^[60] Minnesota's growing minority groups, however, still form a smaller percentage of the population than in the nation as a whole.^[61]
The principal ancestries of Minnesota's residents in 2010 were surveyed to be the following:^[62]

• 37.9% German
• 32.1% from the Nordic countries; (16.8% Norwegian, 9.5% Swedish, 4.7% Finnish, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese and Karelian)
• 11.7% Irish
• 6.3% English
• 5.1% Polish
• 4.2% French
• 3.7% Italian

Ancestries claimed by less than 3 percent of the population include American, Czech, and Dutch, each between 2 and 3 percent; Sub-Saharan African and East African, Scottish, French Canadian, Scotch-Irish and Mexican, each between 1 and 1.9 percent; and less than 1 percent each for Russian, Welsh, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Swiss, Arab, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Greek, Slovak, Lithuanian, Portuguese, and West Indian.^[63] Minnesota has America's largest Somali population.^[64]

The French Renaissance style Cathedral of St. Paul in the city of St. Paul

Religion

Religion in Minnesota (2010)
religion			percent
Mainline Protestant			32%
Catholic			28%
Evangelical Protestant			21%
Unaffiliated			13%
Other			1%

The majority of Minnesotans are Protestants, including a significant Lutheran contingent, owing to the state's largely Northern European ethnic makeup. Roman Catholics (of largely German, Irish, and Slavic descent) make up the largest single Christian denomination. A 2010 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32 percent of Minnesotans were affiliated with Mainline Protestant traditions, 21 percent were Evangelical Protestants, 28 percent were Roman Catholic, 1 percent each were Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Black Protestant, and smaller amounts were of other faiths, with 13 percent unaffiliated.^[65] According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, the denominations with the most adherents in 2010 were the Roman Catholic Church with 1,150,367; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 737,537; and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod with 182,439.^[66] This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, which also gives detailed percentages for many individual denominations.^[67] Although Christianity is dominant, Minnesota has a long history with non-Christian faiths. Ashkenazi Jewish pioneers set up Saint Paul's first synagogue in 1856.^[68] Minnesota is home to over 30 mosques, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area.^[69] The Temple of ECK, the spiritual home of Eckankar, is based in Minnesota.^[70]