Demographics
During the 1850s and 1860s, new settlers arrived in Minneapolis from New England and New York, and during the mid-1860s, Scandinavians from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark began to call the city home. Later, immigrants came from Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, and southern and eastern Europe. Jews from Russia and eastern Europe settled primarily on the north side of the city before moving in large numbers to the western suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s. Asians came from China, the Philippines, Japan, and Korea. Two groups came for a short while during U.S. government relocations, Japanese during the 1940s, and Native Americans during the 1950s. From 1970 onward, Asians arrived from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Beginning in the 1990s, a large Latino population arrived, along with refugees from Africa, especially from Somalia.
Into the 21st century, Minneapolis continues its heritage of welcoming newcomers. The metropolitan area is an immigrant gateway with a 127% increase in foreign-born residents between 1990 and 2000.
U.S. Census Bureau estimates in 2005 show the population of Minneapolis to be 372,811, a 2.6% drop since the 2000 census. The Metropolitan Council estimates the population at 387,711 in 2005, and 387,970 in 2006. The population grew until 1950 when the census peaked at 521,718, and then declined as people moved to the suburbs until about 1990. The number of African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics is growing. Non-whites are now about one fifth of the city's residents.
Compared to the U.S. national average in 2005, the city has fewer white, Hispanic, senior, and unemployed people, while it has more people aged over 18 and more with a college degree.
Compared to a peer group in 2000, the metropolitan area is decentralizing, with a high churn rate and a large young and white population and low unemployment. Racial and ethnic minorities lag behind white counterparts in education, with 15% of black and 13% of Hispanic people holding bachelor's degrees compared to 42% of the white population. The standard of living is on the rise, with incomes among the highest in the Midwest, but median household income among black people is below that of white by over $17,000. Home ownership among black and Hispanic residents is half that of white, and one-third of the Asian population lives below the poverty line.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
