Which Minneapolis neighborhoods had the fastest growth in Somali population between 2010 and 2025?
Executive summary
Available sources do not provide a ward- or neighborhood-level ranking of Minneapolis neighborhoods by Somali population growth between 2010 and 2025; reporting and data instead describe city- and metro‑level totals and historic settlement patterns centered on neighborhoods such as Cedar‑Riverside (noting a long-established Somali presence) and broader Twin Cities concentrations [1] [2]. State and metro estimates range from roughly 61,000 to 84,000 Somali residents in Minnesota and the Twin Cities area in recent estimates cited by different outlets [3] [4] [5].
1. Neighborhood detail is missing from the public sources
None of the search results supplied by your brief contain the neighborhood-by-neighborhood counts or trends for Minneapolis from 2010 to 2025 that would allow a definitive ranking of “fastest growth” by neighborhood; the materials focus on statewide, county and city totals and on historical settlement patterns [3] [6] [1]. Available sources do not mention a dataset or neighborhood table that answers your specific 2010–2025 neighborhood-growth question.
2. What the sources do say about where Somalis live in Minneapolis
Multiple background pieces emphasize that the Somali community is concentrated in the Twin Cities metro and that Minneapolis neighborhoods such as Cedar‑Riverside have long been hubs for Somali arrivals and businesses, with the area repeatedly called out in local histories and news reporting [1] [2] [7]. Those accounts identify Cedar‑Riverside as a key immigrant neighborhood where newly arrived Somalis have clustered, rather than providing quantified growth rates by neighborhood [1].
3. City, county and state totals that give context
Recent estimates cited across sources place Minnesota’s Somali population as the largest in the U.S., with figures ranging in these reports from roughly 61,000 statewide (U.S. Census estimates cited by Neilsberg) to broader metro-area estimates up to about 84,000 for the Twin Cities region [3] [4] [5]. Hennepin County (which contains Minneapolis) is repeatedly identified as the county with the largest Somali population in the state [6].
4. Why neighborhood growth could differ from citywide totals
Local migration within the metro, new refugee arrivals, and secondary migration from other U.S. states all contribute to shifting patterns—and those forces can push growth into different neighborhoods over time, even while the city/metro totals rise. The Minnesota Department of Human Services and reporting note both refugee arrivals and secondary migration as important drivers of Somali population growth in Minnesota [1]. These dynamics explain why neighborhood-level analysis is necessary but absent from the provided materials.
5. Sources, methodology and competing estimates
Different outlets and compilations use different measures: American Community Survey estimates of place-of-birth or ancestry, local reporting, and third‑party compilations produce varying totals (for example, Neilsberg’s city counts vs. AP/NPR/ PBS reporting of a larger Twin Cities figure) [3] [4] [5]. These methodological differences mean a neighborhood growth ranking would depend heavily on which data source and indicator you choose (noted in reporting comparing county/city/metro totals) [3] [6].
6. How to get the neighborhood-level answer you want
The reporting suggests the next step is to consult microdata: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey tract-level tables for ancestry/foreign-born across 2010–2023 (or pooled 5‑year estimates to 2023/2024) and Minneapolis city planning or Minnesota Compass neighborhood/ward analyses if available (p1_s4 points to Minnesota Compass as a relevant tracker). The sources provided do not include those tract-level tables or a compiled neighborhood growth ranking; therefore, they cannot directly answer your 2010–2025 neighborhood growth question [8].
7. Bottom line and caveats for policymakers and reporters
Reporting and overview sources show a strong, longstanding Somali presence centered in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities and provide city/county totals and qualitative neighborhood references—especially Cedar‑Riverside—but they do not supply the neighborhood growth rates between 2010 and 2025 you requested [1] [2] [7]. Any neighborhood ranking built from publicly available census microdata should be explicit about the metric used (ancestry vs. country of birth vs. language spoken at home) because different metrics produce different pictures of “growth” [3] [6].