Which US states have the largest Somali immigrant populations and how have they changed since 1980?
Executive summary
Minnesota hosts by far the largest Somali community in the United States—estimates in recent reporting put the state’s Somali population between roughly 64,000 and 107,000, with multiple outlets citing about 80,000 in Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro as the primary hub [1] [2] [3]. Other states with notable Somali populations commonly named in sources are Ohio, Washington and California, but those states are much smaller hubs compared with Minnesota [4] [1] [5].
1. Minnesota: the national hub and how it grew
Minnesota is consistently identified as home to the country’s largest Somali population and the Minneapolis–St. Paul metro is the primary concentration; outlets cite figures such as “about 80,000” in the state and metro-area counts ranging from ~83,000 to more than 100,000 in different reports [2] [3] [6]. The state’s Somali population grew mainly after the Somali civil war in the early 1990s when Minnesota received large refugee resettlement flows; state data and historical guides record tens of thousands of arrivals from Somalia between 1979 and the 2010s, including an explicit Minnesota Department of Health count of 23,915 refugees from Somalia between 1979 and 2017 [7] [8]. Local demographic projects and journalism emphasize secondary migration within the U.S. as another driver of growth to Minnesota [7].
2. Ohio, Washington, California: sizeable but much smaller communities
Sources repeatedly identify Ohio (Columbus area), Washington (Seattle area) and California as the next-largest state-level Somali communities after Minnesota. State rankings based on recent American Community Survey–style estimates place Ohio and Washington among the leading states and list California as having a significant Somali presence, though their totals are a fraction of Minnesota’s [4] [1] [5]. One private ranking using ACS-derived figures lists Minnesota first, then Ohio and Washington, with Minnesota’s count in the tens of thousands and the others in the low tens of thousands or below [4].
3. Size estimates vary widely — methodological reasons matter
Numbers for the Somali American population diverge because sources use different data and definitions: American Community Survey ancestry responses, 2020 Census tabulations, refugee arrival records, and private compilations produce different totals. For example, a worldpopulationreview snapshot gives Minnesota 64,354 Somalis and totals around 116,520 nationwide as of 2021, while other reporting and advocacy outlets cite higher aggregated counts [1] [6]. Historical refugee arrival counts (useful to track growth from the 1980s and 1990s) differ from present-day ancestry or country-of-birth tallies, explaining discrepancies [7] [8].
4. Change since 1980: concentrated, refugee-driven growth
Available sources trace the major expansion of Somali communities in the U.S. to refugee resettlement beginning around the collapse of Somali state structures in 1991 and surges in the 1990s and 2000s; Minnesota’s records show thousands of Somali refugees arriving from the late 1970s through the 2010s, with especially large inflows after 1990 [7] [8]. Sources do not provide a strict state-by-state time series back to 1980 in uniform census terms, so precise year‑by‑year changes by state since 1980 are not available in the current reporting; instead, refugee arrival counts and ACS snapshots show that growth is concentrated after 1990 and into the 2000s [7] [8].
5. Geography of settlement: cities and secondary migration
Reporting and community profiles name Minneapolis, Columbus (OH) and Seattle as primary city hubs for Somali Americans; Minnesota’s Cedar‑Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis is repeatedly noted as a cultural center [5] [7]. Sources also document “secondary migration”: many Somalis first placed in East Coast or mid‑Atlantic sites moved later for economic reasons to the Twin Cities, Columbus and Seattle, producing concentrated pockets rather than a uniform state-level spread [5].
6. What’s missing and the limits of current data
Available sources do not provide a consistent, comparable long‑run dataset that lists every state’s Somali population in 1980 and then at regular intervals to 2025; instead we have refugee arrival totals, ACS or Census snapshots, and journalists’ rounded state estimates that vary by methodology [7] [1]. For rigorous change‑over‑time analysis you would need harmonized Census/ACS extracts and refugee resettlement microdata; those specific time series are not included in the cited reporting (not found in current reporting).
7. Political stakes and coverage context
Recent national political attention — including reporting on federal enforcement actions and heated rhetoric — repeatedly points to Minnesota because of its visibility as the largest Somali community [2] [9]. Coverage frames Minnesota both as a success story of resettlement and as a flashpoint for contested immigration policy; local leaders and community outlets emphasize that most Somali Minnesotans are U.S. citizens and that enforcement actions deepen community fears [10] [9].
Sources cited: migration and state counts and reporting from worldpopulationreview and other compilations, local Minnesota sources and refugee arrival histories, and national reporting on community size and policy — specifically: worldpopulationreview/state rankings [1]; Guardian and other national reporting on Minnesota’s Somali population [2]; Neilsberg/ACS-derived rankings [4]; Minnesota historical and state data on refugee arrivals [7] [8]; PBS/PBS NewsHour and local coverage on enforcement and community context [9] [10].