Minnesota

How Minnesota ranks among the states

Minnesota ranks 36th in household distress, with a State Distress Index score of 30. The tension inside that low score is work: the jobs part scores 72, far above the late-payments part at 4. In August 2026 the unemployment rate was 4.4%, compared with 4.1% nationally (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). That statewide reading also conceals a wide county spread.

Minnesota has stayed in the lower half of the state list

Is Minnesota expensive to live in? Rent is below the U.S. median, but many renters are stretched

The Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 survey puts Minnesota’s median monthly gross rent at $1,280, below the U.S. median of $1,413. In its separate 2024 annual survey, 23.0% of Minnesota renter households spent at least half their income on rent and utilities, versus 26.1% nationwide. A lower median rent does not mean housing is affordable to every renter.

The state average also hides local differences. The Census Bureau’s five-year rent estimates put Minnesota above each of its bordering states: Iowa $972, North Dakota $954, South Dakota $946 and Wisconsin $1,087. Yet rent is only one expense, and these medians do not price a particular home or neighborhood.

How many renters pay half their income for housing?

The annual Census estimates let us follow the share of renters with the heaviest housing costs. The chart compares that share in Minnesota with the national share through 2024.

This page measures rent and housing burden, not a complete cost-of-living index for groceries, transportation, taxes and child care. Poverty and household income →

Which Minnesota counties are poorest, and which face the most financial strain?

Beltrami County had Minnesota’s highest poverty rate in the Census Bureau’s 2024 county estimates, at 17.3%. Mahnomen County had the highest County Distress Index score, 64; its median household income was the lowest in the state, $60,812. Carver County scored 2, the state’s lowest. These rankings answer different questions: the Census rate counts residents below a poverty threshold, while our index combines household finances, work, housing costs and income.

Every county, by score

Mahnomen, Beltrami and Wadena are the only Minnesota counties scoring at least 50. Most counties fall in the lowest score group. These county scores rank counties nationally; the state score ranks Minnesota among states and D.C.

All 87 Minnesota counties, ranked →

Is Minnesota a poor state? Its poverty rate is among the lowest

In 2024, the Census Bureau estimated that 9.3% of Minnesotans lived in poverty, tied for 5th lowest among states and D.C., compared with 12.1% nationally. The state’s median household income was $87,120, above the U.S. figure of $81,604. The two figures describe different parts of the income distribution.

Statewide poverty has remained under the national rate in the published Census series. The chart keeps the state and U.S. on the same measure and shows the years actually published.

State averages leave room for deep county differences

Beltrami County’s 17.3% poverty rate was almost twice Minnesota’s statewide rate, while Mahnomen had the state’s lowest median household income. Both counties appear near the top of our county distress list. Compare every county →

What is Minnesota’s unemployment rate?

Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.4% in August 2026, compared with 4.1% for the U.S. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). A year earlier, Minnesota’s rate was 3.9%. The jobs part of its distress score is high relative to its other parts because it ranks the state against its peers.

The longer BLS series puts this recent increase in context. The chart traces Minnesota and the country on the same monthly, seasonally adjusted basis.

The unemployment rate counts people working or looking for work. It does not measure wages, underemployment or the number who have stopped looking. See the state’s four score parts →

What changed in Minnesota in the past year

1. Oct. 1, 2026

   Medical Assistance eligibility narrowed for some noncitizen adults

   Minnesota’s Department of Human Services says the federal budget law changed which immigration statuses qualify for full Medical Assistance coverage for some adults beginning Oct. 1. Pregnant people and children follow different rules. The department lists the affected groups and its state-funded coverage arrangements.

   Minnesota Department of Human Services, federal Medicaid changes

2. March 1, 2026

   Federal SNAP eligibility narrowed for some noncitizens

   The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families says the federal budget law narrowed the noncitizen categories eligible for SNAP from March 1. Its estimate of the effect is a projection, not a count of people who lost benefits.

   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, federal SNAP provisions

3. Jan. 1, 2026

   The state paid-leave program began

   Minnesota Paid Leave began covering qualifying family and medical leave. It replaces part of eligible workers’ wages and is funded by premiums from employers and workers. This is a new program, separate from unemployment insurance.

   Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Paid Leave

4. Jan. 1, 2026

   The minimum wage rose with inflation

   The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry raised the state minimum wage through its annual inflation adjustment. Minneapolis and St. Paul have their own higher local rates.

   Minnesota’s labor department, Dec. 17, 2025

How many Minnesotans are behind on bills?

In early 2025, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found debt in collections for 7.5% of Minnesotans with a credit file. The comparable U.S. share was 13.2%. The same records show that 8.3% of Minnesota card borrowers were at least 90 days behind. The shares were 4.6% for auto-loan borrowers and 0.8% for mortgage borrowers.

Those four measures count people with credit records or a particular kind of loan. The chart places Minnesota beside the U.S. within each measure; it does not combine them into one default rate.

Minnesota’s collections and late-payment shares are lower across the credit categories

Share with debt in collections or loans at least 90 days behind, first quarter of 2025; each category has its own denominator.

In collections

Minnesota 7.5% U.S. 13.2%

Credit card

Minnesota 8.3% U.S. 13.5%

Auto loan

Minnesota 4.6% U.S. 8.5%

Mortgage

Minnesota 0.8% U.S. 1.2%

Minnesota’s share of residents with debt in collections was lowest among the states and D.C. The rates here describe household credit, not state government debt.

The dollars owed tell a different part of the story

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York measures balances per person with a credit report, rather than the share of borrowers late on a payment. Minnesota’s total household debt was $63,860 per person at the end of 2025, near the national $63,200; it had been $55,380 at the end of 2019. These are nominal dollars, without an inflation adjustment.

Bankruptcy filings and their population rate →

How common is bankruptcy in Minnesota?

U.S. Courts recorded 176.0 bankruptcy cases per 100,000 Minnesota residents in 2025, compared with 166.3 nationally. The rate uses 2025 population and counts cases filed, not households that finished a case or people who could not pay a debt.

The state recorded more cases in 2025 than in 2024. A case count can change when filing rules or population changes, so the per-person rate is the state comparison. See the full bankruptcy statistics →

How many Minnesotans receive SNAP food benefits?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture counted 428,540 people receiving SNAP in Minnesota in July 2026. That equals 7.4% of the state’s 2025 population, compared with 10.5% across the states and D.C. The enrollment rate is our calculation; it is not a poverty rate.

The federal budget law changed eligibility and work rules. Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families says expanded work requirements began in November 2025 and a narrower noncitizen eligibility rule began in March 2026. A change in enrollment can reflect rules as well as need. What changed in Minnesota →

How foreclosure works in Minnesota

Minnesota law allows a mortgage foreclosure by advertisement, with a sheriff’s sale after published notice, and also permits foreclosure through a court action. For a covered occupied home, state law requires counseling information before the foreclosure notice is recorded. The precise path depends on the loan and the foreclosure papers.

Under Minnesota Statutes § 580.03, a sale by advertisement follows six consecutive weeks of published notice. The statute also requires service on an occupant at least four weeks before the sale. For most residential properties, § 580.23 gives a six-month period after the sale to redeem, subject to exceptions. The federal mortgage-servicing rule generally limits the first foreclosure notice or filing until a loan is more than 120 days behind, with exceptions (12 CFR 1024.41).

Minnesota Housing directs homeowners having trouble with a mortgage to the Minnesota Homeownership Center’s foreclosure prevention advisers. The federal Homeowner Assistance Fund was a separate temporary program; its current application status is described on the state law and help page.

Free housing counseling and legal help →

What Minnesota homeowners report in mortgage complaints

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received 5,220 mortgage complaints from Minnesota since 2012. The most common subjects include the payment process (1,272) and loan modification, collection or foreclosure (1,378). A complaint is a borrower’s report, not a verified finding against a company.

What to watch before the next edition

The next jobs report and scheduled federal benefit changes can alter the context for this October edition.

1. Nov. 19, 2026

   October employment and unemployment figures

   Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development schedules its October state employment report for Nov. 19. The release may revise earlier months.

   Minnesota DEED data release schedule

2. Jan. 1, 2027

   Medical Assistance work reporting and more frequent renewals

   The state says some adults covered through the Medical Assistance expansion will have new work-reporting rules and renew coverage every six months from January. Exemptions and individual circumstances matter.

   Minnesota Department of Human Services, federal Medicaid changes

3. Oct. 1, 2027

   A federal SNAP benefit formula change is scheduled

   Minnesota’s children and families department says the federal food-benefit formula changes at the start of the next federal fiscal year. Its impact estimate is a forecast, not an observed household payment.

   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, federal SNAP provisions

Where Minnesota ranks highest and lowest

The state looks different depending on the measure. Work and bankruptcy place it closer to the middle than its low poverty and late-payment rates do.