Which Minnesota counties show the largest differences in public assistance rates by immigrant group (e.g., Somali, Hmong) and where are those county-level measures published?
Executive summary
Available public sources do not publish a simple ranked list of Minnesota counties showing the largest gaps in public‑assistance receipt between specific immigrant groups (for example, Somali vs. Hmong); instead, county‑level measures for selected groups (including Somali and Hmong) appear in the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ MFIP Performance Measures reports and are surfaced on MN Compass [1]. Settlement and labor‑force analyses from state agencies (DEED) and the Minnesota State Demographic Center show that immigrant populations cluster in the seven‑county Twin Cities metro but vary across Greater Minnesota, which matters for interpreting county differences in program participation [2] [3].
1. What the user is really asking and why it matters
The query seeks two things: which counties have the largest disparities in public‑assistance rates by immigrant group, and where the county‑level measures are published; that requires data broken down both by county and by specific immigrant origin groups — not every public dataset provides that crosswalk, and differences can reflect settlement patterns, program eligibility rules, and local labor markets as much as group-specific poverty or need [2] [3].
2. Where county‑by‑immigrant‑group measures are published
The clearest pointer in the reporting is MN Compass, which notes that MFIP Self‑Support Index and Participation Rates for select immigrant groups (including Somali and Hmong) are available for each county through the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ MFIP Performance Measures reports, published on roughly six‑ to twelve‑month cycles by DHS [1]. DHS also publishes program‑specific documentation such as Refugee Cash Assistance rules and eligibility details, which provide context for who can appear in county counts for particular cash supports [4].
3. What statewide and regional sources say about patterns to expect
State analyses show that the seven‑county Twin Cities metro contains the bulk of Minnesota’s foreign‑born population and that African‑born immigrant populations grew rapidly between 2013 and 2023, suggesting counties in the metro will drive many of the absolute counts and rates reported by group [2]. The State Demographic Center’s migration analysis likewise documents secondary domestic migration into Minnesota among people receiving assistance, including sizable shares born in Africa, which can concentrate need in particular counties but does not by itself generate a ranked county list in the available reports [3].
4. What the reporting does not provide (and the implications)
None of the provided sources supplies a precomputed ranking that names specific counties as having the largest Somali‑vs‑Hmong gaps in public‑assistance rates; the MN Compass note points researchers back to DHS MFIP Performance Measures for county rows and group columns, implying the data exist but require pulling and comparing across counties directly [1]. Therefore, definitive county names and magnitudes cannot be asserted from these sources alone without examining the underlying DHS MFIP reports or county tables that MN Compass references [1].
5. How to obtain the county‑level comparisons that answer the question
To produce a county ranking, the MFIP Performance Measures reports published by Minnesota DHS should be downloaded and the MFIP Self‑Support Index and Participation Rate tables filtered for the immigrant groups of interest (Somali, Hmong) and compared county by county; MN Compass documents that these specific measures are available there and that DHS issues the reports on a six‑ to twelve‑month cadence [1]. Supplementary DHS datasets — such as refugee arrival and initial county of resettlement files — and MFIP/RCA program documentation can provide needed denominators and eligibility context when interpreting participation differences [1] [4].
6. Context, agendas and caveats that shape interpretation
Any county comparison must account for program eligibility rules and pending policy changes that affect immigrant access to benefits: for example, recent state actions and federal Medicaid/Medical Assistance rule changes affect which immigrants qualify for coverage and could change measured participation over time, meaning year‑to‑year county gaps may reflect policy as much as economic conditions [5] [6]. Advocacy and fiscal groups interpret the same data differently — emphasizing costs or contributions — so analysts should disclose agendas when using DHS MFIP figures to support policy claims [7] [8].
7. Bottom line
The specific county‑level gaps by immigrant group (Somali vs. Hmong) are not listed outright in the reporting provided, but the necessary county‑by‑group MFIP measures are published in Minnesota DHS’s MFIP Performance Measures reports and indexed via MN Compass; to answer the question definitively requires extracting those MFIP Self‑Support Index and Participation Rate tables for each county and computing the differences between groups [1] [4].