Minnesota’s population saw slight gains in 2023, driven by more typical migration patterns and fewer deaths compared to the prior two flat pandemic-affected years.
The number of people living in Minnesota increased by 0.4% or 23,615 people between July 2022 and July 2023, according to a U.S. Census report released Tuesday.
The state continues to see low birth rates and elevated deaths as the population ages, and that matches the general trends seen elsewhere around the country, said Susan Brower, Minnesota’s state demographer. But domestic migration and immigration patterns seem to be stabilizing, she said.
“What we’re seeing generally, with this release, is the stabilization of migration patterns. When we received the data last year and saw massive outflows of people domestically, that was concerning,” Brower said.
The massive outflow of the years prior alarmed state leaders who are working to bring more workers to Minnesota. In 2021, Minnesota lost nearly 11,000 people and in 2022 the state lost 22,000.
“Now to have lost about 4,700, that’s a number that we’re very used to historically and that feels like a much more comfortable pace of loss,” Brower said.
The nation gained 1.6 million people, or 0.5 percent, bringing the total to 334,914,895. Minnesota is one of 42 states that saw gains this year.
The Midwest region also saw a moderate population gain following two consecutive years of decline, driven by growth in Indiana and Ohio in addition to Minnesota.
