Racial diversity in Minnesota is a mixed bag.
There are parts of Minnesota where there’s a high level of diversity. But where will you find the most diverse places in Minnesota?
To answer that question, we went to the US Census data. Using Saturday Night Science, we measured the Gini coefficient for all 151 cities in Minnesota to rank them from most to least diverse.
#1 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Hennepin County, MinnesotaBrooklyn Center is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The city is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River on the northwest border of Minneapolis. The population was 30,104 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Hennepin County, MinnesotaBrooklyn Park is the sixth largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, upstream from downtown Minneapolis in northern Hennepin County. Brooklyn Park is a northwest suburb of the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Ramsey County, MinnesotaSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2016, the city’s estimated population was 304,442. Saint Paul is the county seat of Ramsey County, the smallest and most densely populated county in Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state’s largest city. Known as the “Twin Cities”, the two form the core of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.52 million residents.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Ramsey County, MinnesotaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Anoka County, MinnesotaColumbia Heights is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 19,496 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Nobles County, MinnesotaWorthington is a city and county seat of Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,764 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Anoka County, MinnesotaFridley is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 27,208 at the 2010 census. Fridley was incorporated in 1949 as a village and became a city in 1957. It is part of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Fridley is a “first ring” or “inner ring” suburb in the northern part of the Twin Cities. Fridley connects with the city of Minneapolis at its southern border. Neighboring first ring suburbs are Columbia Heights to the South and Brooklyn Center to the West across the Mississippi river.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Ramsey County, MinnesotaNorth Saint Paul is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, located east-northeast of the city of Saint Paul. The population was 11,460 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Hennepin County, MinnesotaNew Hope is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 20,339 at the 2010 census and 21,032 at the 2015 estimate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 most diverse in Minnesota
Located in
Hennepin County, MinnesotaMinneapolis ) is the county seat of Hennepin County, and the larger of the Twin Cities, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2016, Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota and 46th-largest in the United States, with an estimated population of 413,651. The Twin Cities metropolitan area consists of Minneapolis, its neighbor Saint Paul, and suburbs which together contain about 3.5 million people, the second-largest economic center in the Midwest, after Chicago.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Minnesota’s statewide median.
On the map
Where diversity lives in Minnesota
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most diverse cities in Minnesota for 2026
We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census — and Saturday Night Science. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Minnesota.
That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2020-2024 American Community Survey data from the US Census.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
- Hispanic or Latino
We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 151 cities.
We then calculated the HHI for each city by finding the racial breakdown of a city in percent terms, squaring them, and then adding the squares together. This left us with scores ranging from 2,456 (Brooklyn Center) to 9,222 (New Prague).
Finally, we ranked each city based on the HHI, with a lower score being more diverse than a high score. Brooklyn Center took the distinction of being the most diverse, while New Prague was the least diverse city.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the most diverse places in Minnesota.
The full plate
Race By City In Minnesota For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | HHI | % White | % Black | % Hispanic | % Asian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brooklyn Center | 32,479 | 2,456 | 30.6% | 31.3% | 16.5% | 15.2% |
| 2 | Brooklyn Park | 83,876 | 2,683 | 36.2% | 29.7% | 7.1% | 20.2% |
| 3 | St. Paul | 307,284 | 3,191 | 50.0% | 15.7% | 9.5% | 17.8% |
| 4 | Maplewood | 40,695 | 3,316 | 50.9% | 10.6% | 10.9% | 21.8% |
| 5 | Columbia Heights | 22,155 | 3,326 | 48.3% | 26.8% | 15.3% | 4.2% |
| 6 | Worthington | 13,780 | 3,480 | 36.4% | 7.3% | 45.2% | 5.7% |
| 7 | Fridley | 30,241 | 3,657 | 54.7% | 20.4% | 14.1% | 5.8% |
| 8 | North St. Paul | 12,570 | 3,834 | 56.6% | 9.0% | 4.8% | 21.8% |
| 9 | New Hope | 21,181 | 3,863 | 55.6% | 25.1% | 10.3% | 3.1% |
| 10 | Minneapolis | 427,246 | 3,965 | 58.8% | 18.5% | 10.1% | 5.3% |
| 11 | Waite Park | 8,399 | 4,020 | 51.7% | 35.5% | 9.1% | 1.6% |
| 12 | Richfield | 36,642 | 4,183 | 60.9% | 10.7% | 17.8% | 5.5% |
| 12 | Willmar | 21,378 | 4,184 | 58.5% | 9.8% | 25.6% | 2.5% |
| 14 | Burnsville | 64,463 | 4,188 | 61.5% | 13.4% | 12.3% | 5.4% |
| 15 | Hopkins | 18,819 | 4,301 | 61.3% | 20.8% | 5.2% | 3.5% |
| 16 | Austin | 26,358 | 4,308 | 61.9% | 5.1% | 18.7% | 9.2% |
| 17 | Shakopee | 46,012 | 4,330 | 63.1% | 10.1% | 8.5% | 12.2% |
| 18 | Crystal | 22,476 | 4,469 | 64.1% | 13.6% | 11.3% | 3.5% |
| 19 | Little Canada | 10,514 | 4,475 | 64.3% | 7.3% | 10.4% | 12.6% |
| 20 | Bloomington | 88,665 | 4,542 | 65.0% | 12.0% | 11.2% | 5.1% |
| 21 | St. Cloud | 70,629 | 4,633 | 64.5% | 19.7% | 5.8% | 4.1% |
| 22 | New Brighton | 22,710 | 4,645 | 65.7% | 13.9% | 9.0% | 6.3% |
| 23 | Faribault | 24,631 | 4,706 | 65.1% | 16.6% | 13.6% | 1.4% |
| 24 | Spring Lake Park | 7,032 | 4,777 | 66.8% | 4.7% | 14.3% | 8.0% |
| 25 | Oakdale | 28,585 | 4,810 | 67.1% | 9.5% | 5.4% | 12.9% |
| 26 | Robbinsdale | 14,234 | 4,831 | 67.0% | 15.0% | 8.9% | 3.1% |
| 27 | Apple Valley | 55,679 | 4,844 | 67.7% | 10.9% | 7.0% | 6.0% |
| 28 | West St. Paul | 21,382 | 4,884 | 66.2% | 5.8% | 20.7% | 1.1% |
| 29 | Mounds View | 12,926 | 4,932 | 68.3% | 6.7% | 7.8% | 11.7% |
| 30 | Eagan | 68,000 | 4,950 | 68.4% | 11.5% | 7.3% | 8.5% |
| 31 | Woodbury | 78,305 | 4,989 | 68.6% | 7.8% | 5.4% | 13.5% |
| 32 | Roseville | 35,802 | 5,140 | 70.1% | 8.1% | 6.4% | 8.9% |
| 33 | Eden Prairie | 63,051 | 5,145 | 69.9% | 5.7% | 5.1% | 13.0% |
| 34 | Blaine | 72,488 | 5,165 | 70.2% | 10.1% | 4.3% | 9.1% |
| 35 | Rochester | 122,330 | 5,207 | 70.6% | 9.8% | 6.6% | 7.8% |
| 36 | Coon Rapids | 63,468 | 5,241 | 70.9% | 9.6% | 5.8% | 7.4% |
| 37 | Vadnais Heights | 12,838 | 5,243 | 71.1% | 5.9% | 7.2% | 8.2% |
| 38 | Bemidji | 15,569 | 5,280 | 70.9% | 1.8% | 3.2% | 1.0% |
| 39 | Falcon Heights | 5,085 | 5,320 | 71.1% | 7.7% | 2.6% | 13.5% |
| 40 | St. Paul Park | 5,457 | 5,354 | 71.3% | 8.1% | 13.2% | 5.0% |
| 41 | South St. Paul | 20,611 | 5,363 | 70.7% | 5.2% | 17.8% | 1.7% |
| 42 | Savage | 32,889 | 5,416 | 72.2% | 9.9% | 5.0% | 6.6% |
| 43 | Plymouth | 79,220 | 5,533 | 73.1% | 4.9% | 4.4% | 9.9% |
| 44 | Cottage Grove | 40,992 | 5,584 | 73.6% | 6.1% | 7.6% | 7.3% |
| 45 | Inver Grove Heights | 35,906 | 5,624 | 73.5% | 5.9% | 12.3% | 4.3% |
| 46 | Anoka | 17,970 | 5,775 | 74.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 3.7% |
| 47 | Champlin | 23,294 | 5,800 | 75.1% | 9.7% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| 48 | Shoreview | 26,714 | 5,935 | 75.9% | 3.8% | 4.2% | 10.8% |
| 49 | Lakeville | 74,354 | 5,942 | 76.2% | 6.6% | 6.1% | 6.2% |
| 50 | Morris | 5,128 | 5,955 | 75.8% | 1.7% | 13.4% | 3.1% |
| 51 | St. Anthony | 9,671 | 5,963 | 76.2% | 9.7% | 3.5% | 4.8% |
| 52 | Golden Valley | 21,725 | 6,024 | 76.7% | 6.9% | 5.2% | 3.1% |
| 53 | Maple Grove | 71,173 | 6,028 | 76.7% | 8.1% | 2.6% | 7.3% |
| 54 | Albert Lea | 18,330 | 6,032 | 76.1% | 2.3% | 14.7% | 4.9% |
| 55 | Dayton | 9,095 | 6,036 | 76.7% | 5.2% | 5.8% | 2.4% |
| 56 | St. Joseph | 7,021 | 6,063 | 76.9% | 8.4% | 4.9% | 1.8% |
| 57 | Northfield | 20,742 | 6,080 | 76.6% | 2.1% | 13.2% | 4.4% |
| 58 | East Grand Forks | 9,028 | 6,091 | 76.9% | 3.8% | 10.4% | 0.1% |
| 59 | St. Louis Park | 49,594 | 6,176 | 77.9% | 4.5% | 6.2% | 3.8% |
| 60 | Marshall | 13,896 | 6,233 | 78.2% | 4.7% | 6.5% | 6.2% |
| 61 | Corcoran | 7,302 | 6,261 | 77.4% | 0.4% | 1.9% | 15.6% |
| 62 | Elko New Market | 5,002 | 6,270 | 78.2% | 9.7% | 5.8% | 1.4% |
| 63 | Chaska | 28,706 | 6,309 | 78.5% | 3.2% | 9.8% | 3.8% |
| 64 | Prior Lake | 28,016 | 6,367 | 79.2% | 2.2% | 5.8% | 5.5% |
| 65 | Mendota Heights | 11,612 | 6,395 | 79.0% | 0.8% | 3.9% | 4.7% |
| 66 | Glencoe | 5,695 | 6,416 | 77.6% | 0.2% | 19.8% | 0.9% |
| 67 | St. Peter | 12,185 | 6,446 | 79.5% | 7.3% | 8.1% | 1.3% |
| 68 | Edina | 53,262 | 6,520 | 80.1% | 2.9% | 3.8% | 7.0% |
| 69 | Moorhead | 45,036 | 6,566 | 80.4% | 6.0% | 5.3% | 2.0% |
| 70 | Otsego | 22,245 | 6,571 | 80.4% | 8.2% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
| 71 | Montevideo | 5,315 | 6,597 | 80.0% | 0.9% | 13.8% | 2.4% |
| 72 | Medina | 6,968 | 6,633 | 80.4% | 6.1% | 0.5% | 11.4% |
| 73 | Minnetonka | 53,064 | 6,634 | 80.9% | 4.2% | 4.1% | 6.0% |
| 74 | Crookston | 7,344 | 6,658 | 80.8% | 1.3% | 9.6% | 1.1% |
| 75 | Mankato | 45,473 | 6,661 | 81.0% | 7.0% | 5.2% | 3.3% |
| 76 | Farmington | 23,902 | 6,683 | 81.2% | 4.2% | 6.2% | 3.7% |
| 76 | White Bear Lake | 23,908 | 6,683 | 81.2% | 3.3% | 4.7% | 6.3% |
| 78 | Arden Hills | 9,658 | 6,694 | 81.2% | 2.7% | 6.6% | 4.8% |
| 79 | Ramsey | 28,421 | 6,795 | 81.8% | 7.4% | 1.6% | 3.3% |
| 80 | Rosemount | 27,562 | 6,839 | 82.2% | 3.1% | 3.5% | 5.8% |
| 81 | Owatonna | 26,498 | 6,846 | 82.1% | 4.5% | 8.6% | 0.7% |
| 82 | North Oaks | 5,179 | 6,849 | 82.1% | 1.0% | 4.3% | 8.1% |
| 83 | Big Lake | 12,367 | 7,049 | 83.5% | 4.3% | 7.1% | 2.0% |
| 84 | Elk River | 26,793 | 7,064 | 83.6% | 4.7% | 3.6% | 1.7% |
| 85 | Monticello | 14,858 | 7,067 | 83.5% | 1.0% | 8.6% | 3.4% |
| 86 | Chanhassen | 26,006 | 7,074 | 83.7% | 1.3% | 3.6% | 5.9% |
| 87 | Orono | 8,195 | 7,090 | 83.7% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 6.6% |
| 88 | Red Wing | 16,758 | 7,093 | 83.8% | 3.2% | 7.3% | 0.8% |
| 89 | Rogers | 13,685 | 7,178 | 84.4% | 3.3% | 4.4% | 2.4% |
| 90 | Cloquet | 12,537 | 7,183 | 84.3% | 0.9% | 2.4% | 0.9% |
| 91 | Lino Lakes | 22,113 | 7,227 | 84.7% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 4.1% |
| 92 | Waseca | 9,164 | 7,233 | 84.5% | 1.7% | 8.6% | 3.0% |
| 93 | Hastings | 22,117 | 7,253 | 84.8% | 1.1% | 6.1% | 2.1% |
| 94 | North Mankato | 14,211 | 7,269 | 84.9% | 4.5% | 5.2% | 2.6% |
| 95 | Sartell | 19,758 | 7,298 | 85.1% | 4.6% | 3.1% | 1.7% |
| 96 | Thief River Falls | 8,823 | 7,306 | 85.1% | 0.9% | 6.5% | 1.8% |
| 97 | Zimmerman | 6,546 | 7,318 | 85.0% | 0.0% | 3.8% | 3.2% |
| 98 | St. Michael | 20,010 | 7,365 | 85.5% | 5.1% | 2.6% | 2.7% |
| 99 | Andover | 33,035 | 7,388 | 85.7% | 4.6% | 2.7% | 3.0% |
| 100 | Mound | 9,107 | 7,390 | 85.7% | 1.7% | 4.1% | 1.8% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 151 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Diversity Across Minnesota
If you’re looking for a scientific breakdown of diversity across Minnesota, this is an accurate list.
The most diverse cities in Minnesota are Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, St. Paul, Maplewood, Columbia Heights, Worthington, Fridley, North St. Paul, New Hope, and Minneapolis.
