MINNEAPOLIS — The US Census Bureau released it's regional and state population breakdowns this week, and for the second straight year, Minnesota's population has remained virtually flat.
The state population grew by just 5,700 people between July 2021 and July 2022. It's a bigger increase than last year, which saw the population rise by just 1,600 people, but the state demographer, Susan Brower, says it's still concerning.
"I was hoping that what we saw last year was a blip," Brower said. "We're used to growing by about 35,000 to 40,000 people, so this 6,000 people added is just a minute addition to our state's population growth."
Brower says there were still 11,600 more births than deaths in the state last year, but she says the third population migration ate away at that margin in two ways.
Brower: "It looks like what's happening is we're seeing more people - more young people - leaving the state and we're also seeing fewer young people coming to the state."
Kent Erdahl: "Does the fact that we have record-low unemployment add a kind of urgency to the fact that we're not growing at a faster rate?"
Brower: "It does, so one of the reasons why we should care about growth is that our economy depends on making sure that the jobs that we have are filled. Right now, in Minnesota, we have 214,000 job openings and we have less than 100,000 people actively looking for work. That just gives you a sense of how hard employers are looking for workers."
Add in the fact that Minnesota has an aging population and a declining birthrate, and Brower says closing that gap will depend on thinking outside the box - and borders - of our state.
"We need to think about how we can recruit folks, mainly young people, from around the US, or around the globe, to move to Minnesota or stay in Minnesota if they're already here," she said.
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