Minnesota's population saw slight increases in 2023, reflecting more typical migration patterns and fewer deaths compared to the previous two years affected by the pandemic.
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 increased death rates as the population ages, and that is consistent with general trends seen elsewhere in the country, said Minnesota state demographer Susan Brower. But domestic migration and immigration patterns appear to be stabilizing, she said.
“What we are generally seeing with this release is the stabilization of migration patterns. When we got the data last year and saw massive migrations of people domestically, that was concerning,” Brower said.
The massive exodus of previous years worried state leaders working to bring more workers to Minnesota. In 2021, Minnesota lost nearly 11,000 people and in 2022 the state lost 22,000.
“Having lost about 4,700 now is a number that we are very used to in the past and feels like a much more comfortable pace of losses,” Brower said.
The country grew by 1.6 million people, or 0.5 percent, bringing the total to 334,914,895. Minnesota is one of 42 states that saw increases this year.
The Midwest region also experienced moderate population growth after two consecutive years of decline, driven by growth in Indiana and Ohio in addition to Minnesota.