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Getting to know new Minnesotans – Part Two: Where do they come from?

Posted on May 05 2017

From 2010-2014, the biggest numbers of new Minnesota immigrants came from three countries: India (2,000 annual arrivals), Mexico (1,600 arrivals), and China (1,500 arrivals). A total of about 24,000 immigrants from other countries arrived each year.[1]

But that’s just the newest arrivals. Overall, immigrants from Mexico make up the biggest group of foreign-born Minnesotans – some 67,000, according to the 2015 American Community Survey figures.[2] Are Hmong Minnesotans the next biggest group? Not according to the official figures, which don’t count Hmong as a single group, but rather use nationality, which divides the Hmong Minnesotans between Laos and Thailand.

Immigrants make up 13.5 percent of the national population but only 8.3 percent of Minnesota’s population in 2015. The “Getting to know new Minnesotans” series explores some of Minnesota’s immigration picture. Click here for Part One: How many immigrants? 

Here’s how the Minnesota State Demographic Center sums it up:

In 2014, the largest groups of foreign-born Minnesotans were born in Mexico (about 66,000); India (29,000); Laos, including Hmong (28,000); Somalia (26,000); Ethiopia (18,000); China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan (18,000); Thailand, including Hmong (17,000); and Vietnam (17,000). These estimates do not include U.S.-born children of these immigrants. They also likely underestimate the size of our immigrant populations because trust and language issues reduce response rates to Census surveys.[3]

Where are the Somali Minnesotans in this count? The U.S. Census figures don’t show Somalis at all in 2014, counting them in with “other East African” countries.[4] In 2015, the census figures show Somalis separately, reporting about 84,000 in the entire United States, with 25,000 of that number in Minnesota.[5] As noted in the state demographer’s report, the reported number is likely lower than the actual number.

Sometimes people get confused about who immigrants are. For example, many people think all people of Latino ancestry are immigrants. That’s not accurate. In Minnesota 105,000 people of Latino origin are foreign-born, but 177,000 are U.S.-born. Most Latinos in Minnesota were born in this  country so they are not immigrants.[6] Even among those who were born outside the country, many are now U.S. citizens.

Not all Latino or Hispanic immigrants come from Mexico. Some 46,000 immigrants in Minnesota come from other Latin American countries. Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador lead the way, with between five and six thousand immigrant Minnesotans from each country. About 3,000 Minnesota immigrants come from Colombia and another 3,000 from Honduras.

Many other countries have large immigrant populations in Minnesota. Those with more than 5,000 immigrants, according to 2015 American Community Survey data, are:[7]

• China (about16,000)
• Ethiopia (about 16,000)
• Korea (about 14,000)
• Liberia (about 12,000)
• Canada (about 12,000)
• Philippines (about 8,000)
• Kenya (about 8,000)
• Germany (about 6,000)
• Russia (about 6,000)
• Burma (about 6,000)
• Nigeria (about 6,000)

 

[1] Minnesota on the Move: Migration Patterns and Implications, Minnesota State Demographic Center, January 2015, p. 11 <https://mn.gov/admin/assets/mn-on-the-move-migration-report-msdc-jan2015_tcm36-219517.pdf>

[2] U.S. Census Bureau, 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates <https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk >

[3] Minnesota State Demographic Center, Immigration & Language, consulted 4/25/17. < https://mn.gov/admin/demography/data-by-topic/immigration-language/>

[4] U.S. Census Bureau, 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates <https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk >

[5] U.S. Census Bureau, 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates <https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk >

[6] State Immigration Profiles – Minnesota. Migration Policy Institute. Consulted 4/25/17. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/state-profiles/state/demographics/MN>

[7] U.S. Census Bureau, 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates <https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk >