State bird
Common loon
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeSaint Paul ·
U.S. States / Midwest · Card 023
Minnesota
The North Star State
Voyageurs National Park contains interconnected lakes, waterways and forests along the Canadian border.
Minnesota and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Minnesota.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Saint Paul
- Postal abbreviation
- MN
- Population
- 5,830,405July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 225,163 km²86,936 square miles · land and water
- Statehood
- May 11, 1858State number 32
- Region
- Midwest
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
Hail! Minnesota
Sources: Designation & background
State muffin
Blueberry muffin
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: Iowa, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin.
02
Landscape & places
Voyageurs National Park contains interconnected lakes, waterways and forests along the Canadian border. Water routes are central to understanding the landscape and its history of travel and exchange.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 206,232 km² of land and 18,930 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
A dark-blue hoist shape with a white eight-pointed star beside a light-blue field.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Voyageurs
How the landscape works
Voyageurs is a landscape of connected waterways as well as land. Lakes and channels can function as routes, not merely obstacles that interrupt roads. That helps explain why water is central to its travel and exchange history. A road-only map would emphasize a different set of connections from those used by people traveling by canoe.
History
What led to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862
Treaties transferred large areas of Dakota land to the United States in exchange for reservations, goods and annual payments. Many Dakota people received less than they expected because traders claimed portions of the payments as debts. By 1862, delayed federal payments, crop failures and traders’ refusal to extend credit had created severe hunger.
War broke out in August 1862. Dakota communities were not united in their response, and some people protected settlers or stayed out of the fighting. The war ended in Dakota defeat, military trials and the removal of many Dakota people from Minnesota. The causes involved broken promises and loss of land, not an unexplained outbreak of violence.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 followed treaty violations, delayed payments, and hunger. These conditions help explain the crisis; they do not make every Dakota person’s choices or experience identical. The war and its aftermath involved punishment and expulsion affecting communities far beyond individual combatants. Specific causes are more informative than describing the conflict as inevitable hostility.
Key dates
-
Minnesota Territory established
-
Statehood · State number 32
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community provides information about Dakota history and contemporary community life. Learning about Minnesota’s Dakota peoples should continue beyond the war and removals of 1862.
Continue with Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Minnesota and Iowa
| Measure | Minnesota | Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 5,830,405 | 3,238,387 |
| Land area (km²) | 206,232 | 144,669 |
| People per km² of land | 28.3 | 22.4 |
Minnesota has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Iowa.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, professional and business services was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included real estate and rental and leasing, manufacturing, and educational services, health care, and social assistance.
Total economic output was $531.5 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Professional and business services: 12.8%
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 12.7%
- Manufacturing: 11.5%
- Educational services, health care, and social assistance: 10.7%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people5.832025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 5,710,562 |
| 2021 | 5,714,055 |
| 2022 | 5,727,565 |
| 2023 | 5,752,998 |
| 2024 | 5,797,405 |
| 2025 | 5,830,405 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars405.842025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 308,091.9 |
| 2011 | 315,213.3 |
| 2012 | 321,053.9 |
| 2013 | 329,774.5 |
| 2014 | 338,623.9 |
| 2015 | 345,456.2 |
| 2016 | 350,603.6 |
| 2017 | 354,721.9 |
| 2018 | 364,799.7 |
| 2019 | 369,617.4 |
| 2020 | 357,831.5 |
| 2021 | 377,975.8 |
| 2022 | 385,921.8 |
| 2023 | 389,864.5 |
| 2024 | 399,253.3 |
| 2025 | 405,836.1 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Minnesota’s population increased by about 2.1% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 102024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 82020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Minnesota
Show a hint
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Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.