Which Minnesota counties and cities have the highest share of Somali residents on EBT?
Executive summary
Available sources do not provide county- or city-level data showing the “share of Somali residents on EBT” in Minnesota; state and local reporting instead discuss SNAP/EBT policy, Minnesota’s large Somali population concentrated in the Twin Cities, and recent political controversies involving Somali migrants (not detailed EBT shares) [1] [2] [3]. National fact-checking and reporting warn that viral charts claiming high SNAP shares by nationality are misleading and not supported by USDA data [4] [5].
1. What you asked for and what the records actually contain
You asked which Minnesota counties and cities have the highest share of Somali residents on EBT. Available sources do not publish statistics that break SNAP/EBT recipients by both city/county and Somali origin; state pages explain SNAP administration and EBT mechanics but do not provide demographic breakdowns by nationality at local levels [1] [6]. Minnesota Compass provides Somali population information but the search results do not include a dataset cross‑tabulating Somali population with EBT participation by county or city [2]. Therefore precise ranked lists requested are not found in current reporting.
2. Where Somali Minnesotans live — the demographic context
Reporting and research note Minnesota hosts the nation’s largest Somali community and that most Somalis in the state live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area; a cited estimate places roughly 36,495 Somali foreign-born residents statewide with about 77% in the metro area — a concentration that shapes questions about service use, including SNAP, even when direct EBT-by-origin data aren’t published [7] [2].
3. What state sources do provide on SNAP/EBT
Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families and Department of Human Services describe SNAP eligibility, EBT card use, and program rules (including time‑limited work rules), but those pages focus on program administration and access — not on recipient race, nationality or city/county breakdowns by ethnicity [1] [6]. The state site invites feedback on county service delivery but does not publish the specific demographic cross‑tabs you requested [1].
4. Why viral charts and national claims are unreliable here
National fact‑checks warned that viral charts claiming large shares of SNAP recipients by nationality, including high percentages for “Somali,” misrepresent USDA data; PolitiFact and Al Jazeera found those charts misleading and emphasized that official USDA household characteristics show different patterns [4] [5]. That reporting undercuts attempts to infer precise Somali shares on EBT from viral images or partisan statements without verified administrative data [4] [5].
5. Recent politics and reporting that may shape queries like yours
Recent national political attacks and federal actions have focused on Minnesota’s Somali community — including statements about fraud and termination of temporary protections — which has prompted investigative and law‑enforcement attention and heightened media coverage [3] [8] [9]. Coverage notes some fraud prosecutions involve Somali residents, but available reporting does not connect those cases to broad, verifiable local EBT participation rates [8] [10].
6. What would be needed to answer your question reliably
Answering “which counties and cities have the highest share of Somali residents on EBT” requires cross‑tabulated administrative data that the state or county agencies must release: (a) EBT/SNAP recipient counts by county/city and (b) self‑reported or administratively recorded ancestry/national origin for those recipients. Available state pages and public reporting do not supply that combined dataset [1] [6]. Without it, any ranked list would be speculation or reliant on misleading viral graphics [4].
7. Practical next steps and caveats for pursuing this data
If you need authoritative numbers, request them from Minnesota DHS/DHS data staff or county human‑services offices; ask specifically for anonymized cross‑tabulations of SNAP/EBT participation by geography and by self‑identified ancestry or language where privacy rules permit. Expect legal and privacy limits: state agencies often withhold nationality breakdowns tied to benefit records or aggregate them to protect identities (available sources do not mention specific release rules) [1]. Meanwhile, treat national viral charts and partisan claims as unreliable without direct agency verification [4] [5].
Limitations: This analysis uses only the supplied reporting and state pages; those sources do not include the local, demographic EBT cross‑tabs you requested, so I cannot produce the ranked county/city list from current reporting [1] [2] [4].