Official Federal Data
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI · Population 1,269,496
10 Sources
Updated September 10, 2026
$97,653 up from the baseline named below
Median Income (nominal) vs 2019
$80,734 national
3.6% up from the baseline named below
Unemployment vs 2024
4.3% national
$193.6B up from the baseline named below
GDP (nominal) real change vs 2023
54.1% up from the baseline named below
Bachelor's+ vs 2019
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household (nominal)
$97,653 up from 2019 vs 2019
Per Capita
$59,401 up from 2019 vs 2019
Mean Household
$138,433 up from 2019 vs 2019
Median Household (cost-of-living adjusted)
$93,180 metro RPP 104.8
Poverty Rate
10% down from 2019 vs 2019
Median Income Comparison
Hennepin County$97,653
Minnesota$89,062
National$80,734
Cost-of-living adjustment uses the BEA all-items regional price parity for Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, 104.8 against a national average of 100 (2024). BEA publishes regional price parity at state and metropolitan level only; there is no county figure, so the metro index stands in for Hennepin County and the adjusted median is an approximation. Per capita and mean household income above are nominal and carry no adjustment.
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003
CohortsShare of total population
Under 18 · 21.6%
18-34 · 24.4%
35-54 · 26.3%
55-64 · 12.1%
65+ · 15.6%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
94.1%
High School+
National: 89.6%
up from national +4.5 pts vs national
54.1%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
up from national +18.4 pts vs national
20.3%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
up from national +6.2 pts vs national
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
1,269,496
Population
730,534
Labor Force
Employed
697,474
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
3.6% up from 2024 +0.7 pts vs 2024
Mean Commute 4 min below national avg
21.9 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
25.2%
Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Cost of living erodes income: Local prices run 4.8% above the national average, so the nominal median of $97,653 is worth $93,180 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at metro level, not county level.
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 18.4 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
$193.6B up from 2023 +1.6% vs 2023
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
+1.6% real (inflation-adjusted)
·
+5.1% nominal
· 2023 to 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · level and nominal change from CAGDP2 (current dollars); real change from CAGDP9 (chained 2017 dollars), both all-industry total. The two series agree in 2017, the chain reference year, and diverge by the amount of price change since.
104.8
Cost of Living · metro · Above Avg
Key Takeaways
- Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 161,134 workers (23.2% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $69,907. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 93,962 and is counted separately.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $193.6B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $167,551 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $33,993, a 4.9x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?
Get Deeper Trends
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
11 sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5
Largest grouping among them is Management of Companies & Enterprises Cluster at 24.1% of the employment across all of them, which signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
156,453
Employment in the sub-sectors listed
3.94x
Peak sub-sector LQ
Sub-Sector Detail, Highest 10 By LQ
Air Transportation
3.94x 13,965
Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets
3.75x 509
Miscellaneous Manufacturing
3.50x 13,224
Management of Companies and Enterprises
3.04x 49,042
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
2.18x 13,501
Printing and Related Support Activities
2.17x 4,639
Securities, Commodity Contracts, Investments
2.14x 14,636
Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
1.91x 30,767
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related
1.61x 5,774
Machinery Manufacturing
1.54x 10,396
+ 1 more sub-sector at LQ ≥ 1.5, holding a further 47,061 jobs not counted in the total above. See the spider chart for the broader picture.
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, screened against local siting constraints. Source: BLS QCEW
0.04x
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
90 employed
0.05x
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
583 employed
0.21x
Crop Production
674 employed
0.21x
Wood Product Manufacturing
515 employed
0.22x
Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
575 employed
0.24x
Textile Product Mills
140 employed
0.25x
Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction
1,820 employed
Screened on industrial power cost, rail-truck intermodal access, land base.
Industrial electricity in Minnesota costs 9.32¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025).
Minnesota has 3 rail-truck intermodal terminals, the nearest 11 miles from the county.
Land area 554 sq mi, larger than 42% of US counties.
Sources: EIA, BTS NTAD, Census Gazetteer.
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Air Transportation concentrates at 3.94x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
- Cluster depth: 11 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 24.3% of the employment across them, the largest being business and professional services. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.
- Attraction whitespace: 7 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 with at least 50 employed, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064, B25004
$392,900 up from the baseline named below
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,487 up from the baseline named below
Rent/Mo vs 2019
62.7% up from the baseline named below
Owner-Occ vs 2019
5.6% up from the baseline named below
Vacancy vs 2019
2.6% available
for rent or sale
for rent or sale
4.0x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
HUD publishes these by FMR area, which may cover more than one county · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070
Studio
$1,242/mo
1 Bedroom
$1,405/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,709/mo
3 Bedroom
$2,262/mo
4 Bedroom
$2,531/mo
30% of monthly median renter household income (~$1,497/mo, from a renter median of $59,890) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Measured: 45.8% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 22.4% pay 50% or more.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 4.0x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 2 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $59,890 can pay without cost burden (~$1,497/mo), and 45.8% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23001, B23025, B08303, B08301
797,197 down from the baseline named below
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 4 min below national avg
21.9 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
25.2%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
87.5%
of prime-age population
Prime-age rate numerator is civilian employed (B23001); the denominator is total population aged 25-54 (B01001), which also includes armed forces.
of population age 16 and over (1,027,088)
down from 2019 vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
54.1% up from 2019 vs 2019
HS Diploma+
94.1% up from 2019 vs 2019
Institutions in Hennepin County
Largest 6 of 19 by credentials awarded, in Hennepin County
Credentials awarded in Hennepin County
46,266/yr
14,847/yr
13,676/yr
12,870/yr
1,738/yr
1,570/yr
1,565/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
19.3%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Same cohort is 12.1% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
55.9%
Service
12.6%
Sales & Office
17.6%
Construction / Maint.
3.9%
Production / Transport
10.1%
Bars are drawn on a 0% to 60% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 697,474 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Healthy participation: 71.2% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
- Short commutes: 21.9-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: the 6 largest of 19 institutions in Hennepin County award 46,266 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 10 federal data sources.
Sample AI Insight
Hennepin County shows meaningful potential for air transportation attraction, with a 3.94x concentration and 13,965 jobs in this sub-sector.
The concentrated base spans air transportation, lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets, and miscellaneous manufacturing, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 24.3% of the employment across them, the largest being business and professional services. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
Take it further
AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.
Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.
Schedule a DemoAvailable as premium offerings.
Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
BEA Regional Price Parity2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
American Community Survey figures on this page are 2020-2024 five-year averages rather than single-year counts. A five-year estimate pools 60 months of survey responses, so each value describes the period as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Hennepin County, Minnesota, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Hennepin County, Minnesota?
1,269,496 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Hennepin County, Minnesota?
$97,653 in nominal dollars (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates). Adjusted for local prices using the BEA all-items regional price parity for Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (104.8 against a national average of 100), that is $93,180 at national average prices. BEA publishes regional price parity at metro level; there is no county-level figure.
What is the unemployment rate in Hennepin County, Minnesota?
3.6% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Hennepin County, Minnesota?
$193.6B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP2).
Hennepin County, MN: Public data. Imagine the full platform.
Get a Demo →