What are Somali American employment rates by Minnesota county in 2025 and how do they compare to state averages?
Executive summary
Available sources do not provide county-level 2025 employment rates specifically for Somali Americans in Minnesota; statewide estimates and broader labor statistics are available instead. Minnesota’s Somali population is concentrated in Hennepin and Ramsey counties (e.g., Hennepin ~28,053; statewide Somali counts ~61,000–64,300) [1] and prior reporting places Somali employment or labor-force participation in the 55–69% range depending on the dataset and year (national 2011–15 survey: Minnesota Somali employment ~62%; broader labor‑participation figures around 69% in some compilations) [2] [3].
1. Data gap: county-by-county Somali employment rates for 2025 are not in the record
No source in the provided set reports Somali-American employment rates by Minnesota county for 2025. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and Minnesota DEED publish county employment and unemployment for entire populations and industries (county unemployment dashboards and QCEW county wage/employment releases), but these do not disaggregate by detailed ethnic groups such as “Somali American” in the materials shown [4] [5]. Migration Policy, Minnesota Compass and state chartbooks provide cultural‑group-level data but the items provided here do not include 2025 county-level Somali employment rates [6] [7].
2. What the sources do report about Somali employment in Minnesota (state-level and historical points)
A multi-year survey cited on the Somali Americans Wikipedia page found Somali employment in Minnesota around 62% with self-employment about 5.9% in the 2011–2015 period, a figure described as “slightly higher” than the national Somali average at the time [2]. Other analyses and compilations note broad labor‑force participation metrics for Somalis nationally near 69.2% for ages 16+ in some datasets, though those are not Minnesota‑specific and mix age brackets [3]. State-focused reporting and community resources emphasize that Somalis are a relatively young population in Minnesota and that employment and poverty outcomes differ from state averages, with several sources noting substantially higher unemployment or lower workforce attachment for Somali adults compared with Minnesota overall (for example, Somali adults having “roughly 2–3 times higher” unemployment in some summaries and historically high poverty and non‑participation rates cited by community briefs) [8] [9].
3. Geography: where Minnesota’s Somali residents live — this matters for county comparisons
Statewide estimates in the provided materials put Minnesota’s Somali population in 2025 at roughly 61,000–64,300 people, concentrated in Hennepin County (largest share — ~28,053 in one county breakdown), followed by Ramsey and Dakota among others [1] [10]. That concentration means county-level labor trends in the Twin Cities metro, particularly Hennepin and Ramsey, will drive most Somali employment outcomes statewide [1].
4. How to compare Somali employment to county and state averages with available public data
The BLS and Minnesota DEED publish county unemployment and employment totals for all residents and industries (county unemployment maps and QCEW county releases), which allow comparison of countywide unemployment and wages but not direct, ethnicity‑specific employment rates [4] [5]. To compare Somali employment to county and state averages you would need either (a) an American Community Survey (ACS) microdata extract or a state demographic center report that cross‑tabs employment by county and nativity/ancestry for 2025, or (b) a custom tabulation from the Census Bureau. The provided sources do not include such a 2025 ACS‑by‑county Somali employment table (available sources do not mention a 2025 county-by-county Somali employment breakdown).
5. Conflicting signals and context from reporting
Some community and policy pieces highlight progress — rising workforce participation, entrepreneurship in certain sectors (home health care cited as a major employer for Somali immigrants at >15% in one Chamber of Commerce piece) — while other reports emphasize persistent disadvantage, higher poverty and higher unemployment ratios versus state averages [11] [8]. Political coverage and investigative pieces about fraud or immigration policy have also put the Somali community’s economic role and vulnerabilities into the public debate in 2025, but these are separate from neutral employment statistics and can reflect advocacy or investigative agendas [12] [13]. Readers should separate descriptive labor statistics from pieces with explicit policy or political aims.
6. What to request next for a definitive county comparison
For the county-by-county Somali employment rates in 2025 and a direct comparison to county and statewide averages you should request:
- ACS 1‑year or 5‑year microdata cross‑tabulated by county and ancestry/nativity (Somali or Somalia-born) for employment status (employed, unemployed, not in labor force) for 2025; or
- A custom table from the Minnesota State Demographic Center or the U.S. Census Bureau’s data tools giving employment rates for people born in Somalia or reporting Somali ancestry by county for 2025.
The current collection of sources does not include those tabulations (available sources do not mention those county-by-county Somali employment figures).