The presence of such industry powerhouses as Polaris, Arctic Cat and New Flyer make Northwest Minnesota a hub of transportation equipment manufacturing.
From wheat and potatoes to soybeans and sugar beets, the region is a major producer and processor of food staples and specialty agricultural products.
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5/17/2022 9:00:00 AM
Cameron Macht
While Northwest Minnesota has enjoyed steady population growth since 2010 due to significant domestic in-migration, it has lagged the rest of the state in international in-migration. According to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 5,000 residents have moved into the region from other parts of the state and surrounding states over the past 11 years, while only about 2,000 have moved into the region from other countries.
With just over 12,600 foreign-born residents, only 2.2% of the region's population are immigrants, compared to 8.2% statewide. The region saw a 19% increase in foreign-born population from 2010 to 2020, which was much slower than growth in the state, which increased 28% (see Table 1).
| Table 1. Place of Birth for the Foreign Born Population, 2020 | Northwest Minnesota | Change from 2010-2020 | Minnesota | Change from 2010-2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | ||
| Total, Foreign-born Population | 12,603 | 2.2% | +2,007 | +18.9% | 470,687 | 8.2% | +28.3% |
| Europe | 1,615 | 12.8% | -415 | -20.4% | 45,867 | 9.7% | +1.9% |
| Asia | 4,001 | 31.7% | +927 | +30.2% | 174,828 | 37.1% | +28.5% |
| Africa | 2,139 | 17.0% | +1,174 | +121.7% | 125,135 | 26.6% | +78.2% |
| Oceania | 214 | 1.7% | -22 | -9.3% | 1,846 | 0.4% | +15.4% |
| Americas | 4,634 | 36.8% | +343 | +8.0% | 123,011 | 26.1% | +7.8% |
| Americas: - Latin America | 3,393 | 73.2% | +369 | +12.2% | 111,190 | 90.4% | +9.6% |
| Americas: - Northern America | 1,241 | 26.8% | -26 | -2.1% | 11,821 | 9.6% | -6.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2016-2020 American Community Survey | |||||||
Table 1 shows the composition of the foreign-born population in Northwest Minnesota. Just over one-third of all immigrants in the region are from the Americas, with almost 75% of those from Latin America, but over one-quarter from Canada. About 4,000 immigrants are from Asia, and more specifically Southeastern Asia (such as Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam), after increasing nearly 50% from 2010. But the fastest in-migration into the region happened from Africa – which more than doubled since 2010 and now accounts for just over 2,100 people (see Table 1).
Despite statewide trends showing increased international in-migration, only 16 of the 26 counties in Northwest Minnesota saw an increase in foreign-born residents over the last 10 years, and 18 counties in the region had less than 2.0% of their population foreign-born.
Stevens County, which is home to Morris and the University of Minnesota campus there, had the highest percent of foreign-born residents, the third fastest growing, and the fourth largest increase in immigrants from 2010 to 2020, but immigrants still account for just 6.2% of the county's total population. Clay County, which is part of the Fargo-Moorhead metro area, easily had the largest number of foreign-born residents with nearly 3,000 in 2020. That was double the next highest number in Otter Tail County, and while Clay County added more than 1,000 additional immigrants from 2010 to 2020, Otter Tail County added just two new foreign-born residents (see Table 2).
| Table 2. Foreign-born Population, 2020 | 2020 Pop. Estimate | 2010-2020 Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Stevens County | 601 | 6.2% | +277 | +85.5% |
| Clay County | 2,956 | 4.5% | +1,064 | +56.2% |
| Roseau County | 642 | 4.2% | +292 | +83.4% |
| Polk County | 1,140 | 3.7% | +421 | +58.6% |
| Todd County | 788 | 3.1% | -51 | -6.1% |
| Kittson County | 105 | 2.5% | -36 | -25.5% |
| Otter Tail County | 1,529 | 2.5% | +2 | +0.1% |
| Pennington County | 319 | 2.3% | +62 | +24.1% |
| Beltrami County | 792 | 1.7% | -348 | -30.5% |
| Wadena County | 244 | 1.7% | +110 | +82.1% |
| Marshall County | 140 | 1.5% | -67 | -32.4% |
| Norman County | 99 | 1.5% | +10 | +11.2% |
| Pope County | 165 | 1.5% | +101 | +157.8% |
| Traverse County | 51 | 1.5% | -29 | -36.3% |
| Hubbard County | 302 | 1.4% | +57 | +23.3% |
| Morrison County | 442 | 1.3% | +103 | +30.4% |
| Becker County | 423 | 1.2% | +15 | +3.7% |
| Crow Wing County | 815 | 1.2% | +145 | +21.6% |
| Clearwater County | 96 | 1.1% | -45 | -31.9% |
| Douglas County | 435 | 1.1% | +53 | +13.9% |
| Wilkin County | 72 | 1.1% | +34 | +89.5% |
| Cass County | 314 | 1.0% | +12 | +4.0% |
| Grant County | 55 | 0.9% | -44 | -44.4% |
| Mahnomen County | 36 | 0.7% | -15 | -29.4% |
| Red Lake County | 25 | 0.6% | -31 | -55.4% |
| Lake of the Woods Co. | 17 | 0.5% | -85 | -83.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey | ||||
Though the number of foreign-born residents in Northwest Minnesota is still small, the fastest increases in international in-migration occurred in Pope, Wilkin, Wadena and Roseau counties, which all expanded 80% or more from 2010 to 2020. However, all four of those counties also have relatively small numbers of immigrants, with the first three all having less than 250 foreign-born residents, and Roseau having about 650 immigrants.
Finally, ten counties in the region actually saw a decline in the number of foreign-born residents over the past 10 years, with Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Todd, Clearwater, Grant, Kittson, and Traverse all losing between 25 and 100 immigrants. Beltrami County saw the largest decline, losing almost 350 foreign-born residents between 2010 and 2020.
In general, the smallest counties in the region tended to have the smallest foreign-born populations, with Pope, Marshall, and Kittson all having between 100 and 200 immigrants; and Norman, Clearwater, Wilkin, Grant, Traverse, Mahnomen, Red Lake, and Lake of the Woods all having less than 100 foreign-born residents (see Table 2).
Contact Cameron Macht at 320-441-6596.
