What industries and counties in Minnesota have the highest concentrations of undocumented workers?
Executive summary
Minnesota’s undocumented workforce is concentrated in a handful of industries—primarily agriculture, meat and food processing, and segments of the care and construction economies—and in certain counties in southern and central Minnesota, with Nobles, Kandiyohi and Stearns repeatedly identified in reporting as having disproportionately high concentrations relative to their populations [1] [2] [3]. Available state and national analyses stress that these findings are estimates built from adjusted survey data and sectoral mapping rather than precise census counts, so county- and industry-level numbers should be read as informed approximations [4] [5].
1. Agriculture and food-processing dominate the industry picture
Research and state analyses show that farm work, meatpacking and food manufacturing are the sectors with the largest shares of undocumented workers in Minnesota—farm labor and food-manufacturing jobs are grouped under “food security,” and the state’s food production systems rely heavily on immigrant labor, many of whom are undocumented or on temporary agricultural visas [6] [7]. Multiple reports note that rural agricultural counties and meat-processing towns depend on these workers to maintain production, and local studies document undocumented labor as essential in harvest seasons and plant work [1] [7].
2. Caregiving, construction and housing services are significant but less concentrated
Beyond agriculture and processing, analyses of employment by undocumented workers highlight meaningful representation in the care economy—personal care aides, home health workers—and in construction, maintenance and lodging, where informal hiring and demand for flexible labor are common [6]. State workforce reporting and advocacy studies emphasize these service and housing-related occupations as important parts of everyday local economies in both metro and nonmetro areas, though not matching agriculture and food-manufacturing in concentration [8] [6].
3. Counties with the highest reported concentrations: Nobles, Kandiyohi, Stearns—and southern Minnesota more broadly
County-level reporting and regionally focused studies identify Nobles, Kandiyohi and Stearns as counties with disproportionately high concentrations of undocumented residents relative to total population, reflecting the presence of large farms and meat-processing facilities in those counties and surrounding southern Minnesota communities [1] [2]. Broader state-level mapping and commerce reporting add that much of Minnesota’s foreign‑born population is concentrated in the Twin Cities metro and southern counties, though the undocumented share is more pronounced in specific rural and processing centers [3] [4].
4. Data limits and methodological caveats that shape the map
All available numbers rest on modeled estimates and adjusted survey samples—tools like the Center for Migration Studies’ augmented ACS and Migration Policy’s county profiles correct for undercount but still carry sampling variability and methodological choices that change point estimates [4] [9]. State-level tallies also vary: some analyses estimate roughly 95,000 undocumented people in Minnesota while others show stable or modest change over time; these differences reflect data sources and adjustment methods, not a single authoritative headcount [7] [10].
5. Conflicting narratives, political agendas and the risk of overclaiming
Public narratives swing between portraying undocumented workers as indispensable economic actors and framing them as a public-safety or fiscal threat; think tanks, business groups and advocacy organizations all publish different emphases—economic contribution, tax revenues at risk, or enforcement outcomes—which can skew single-source readings [7] [3] [11]. Fact-checkers and local reporting caution against viral county claims that lack methodological backing, underscoring the need to rely on adjusted survey tools and regional studies rather than anecdote [12] [4].
6. What the evidence supports and what it does not
In sum, the strongest and most consistent evidence points to agriculture and food-processing as the top industries employing undocumented workers in Minnesota and to southern and certain central counties—most often named as Nobles, Kandiyohi and Stearns—as places with relatively high concentrations [1] [6] [2]. The precise counts by county and sector remain estimates subject to revision; researchers and policymakers use CMS and Migration Policy tools to refine local pictures, but those tools come with standard sampling caveats that should temper definitive statements [4] [5].