24/7 Local Dentist Locations in Minnesota

About Minnesota State

Minnesota (/ˌmɪnɪˈsoʊtə/ (About this soundlisten)) is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.7 million residents. More than half of Minnesotans live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", which is the main political, economic, and cultural hub.[8] Greater Minneapolis is among the 20 largest metropolises in the U.S. Other Minnesota metropolitan areas include Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester and St. Cloud.[9] Minnesota's geography is highly diverse, consisting of western prairies, now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now partially cleared, farmed, and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Roughly a third of the state is forested, and it is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" for having over 11,800 bodies of fresh water that are at least ten acres.



Minnesota has been inhabited by various indigenous peoples since the Woodland period of the 11th century BCE. Between roughly 200 and 500 CE, two areas of the indigenous Hopewell tradition emerged: the Laural Complex in the north, and Tremplau Hopewell in the Mississippi River Valley. The subsequent Upper Mississippian culture, consisting of the Oneota people and other Siouan speakers, lasted through the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. French explorers and missionaries were the earliest Europeans to enter the region, encountering the Dakota, Ojibwe, and various Anishinaabe tribes. Much of what is now Minnesota formed part of the vast French holding of Louisiana, which the United States purchased in 1803. After several territorial reorganizations, the Minnesota Territory was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state in 1858. Minnesota's official motto, L'Étoile du Nord, is the only state motto in French; meaning "The Star of the North", it was adopted shortly after statehood and reflects the state's French origins and its position as the northernmost state in the contiguous U.S.



As part of the American frontier, Minnesota attracted settlers and homesteaders from across the country, with its growth initially centered on timber, agriculture, and railroads. Into the early 20th century, European immigrants arrived in significant numbers, particularly from Scandinavia, Germany, and Central Europe; many were linked to the failed revolutions of 1848, and partly influenced the state's emergence as a major center of labor and social activism.[10] Minnesota's rapid industrialization and urbanization precipitated major social, economic, and political changes during the American Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the state was at the forefront of labor rights, women's suffrage, and political reform.[11] Minnesotan politics, culture, and identity are reflective of this history and remain highly progressive by national standards.



Since the late 20th century, Minnesota's economy has diversified significantly, shifting from traditional industries such as agriculture and resource extraction to services, finance, and healthcare. The state remains a center of Scandinavian, German, and Czech culture,[12] but in recent decades has become increasingly multicultural amid greater domestic migration and immigration from Asia, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Minnesota's standard of living index is among the highest in the nation, and the state is among the best-educated in the nation.[13] It is ranked among the best states in metrics such as employment, median income, safety, and governance.[14]

Etymology

The word Minnesota comes from the Dakota[15] name for the Minnesota River, which got its name from one of two words in Dakota: "mní sóta", which means "clear blue water",[16][17] or "Mníssota", which means "cloudy water".[18][19][20] Dakota people demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mní sóta.[20] Many places in the state have similar Dakota names, such as Minnehaha Falls ("curling water" or waterfall), Minneiska ("white water"), Minneota ("much water"), Minnetonka ("big water"), Minnetrista ("crooked water"), and Minneapolis, a hybrid word combining Dakota mní ("water") and -polis (Greek for "city").[21]



History

Main article: History of Minnesota



Map of Minnesota Territory 1849–1858

When Europeans arrived in North America, a subculture of Sioux called the Dakota people lived in Minnesota. The first Europeans to enter the region were French voyageurs, fur traders who arrived in the 17th century. They used the Grand Portage to access trapping and trading areas further into Minnesota. The Anishinaabe (also known as Ojibwe or Chippewa) were migrating into Minnesota, causing tensions with the Dakota people,[22] and dislocated the Mdewakaton. Explorers such as Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father Louis Hennepin, Jonathan Carver, Henry Schoolcraft, and Joseph Nicollet mapped the state.



The region was part of Spanish Louisiana from 1762 to 1802.[23][24] The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became part of the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War, when the Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase, though part of the Red River Valley was disputed until the Treaty of 1818.[25] In 1805 Zebulon Pike bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers to create a military reservation. The construction of Fort Snelling followed between 1819 and 1825.[26] Its soldiers built a grist mill and a sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, which were harbingers of the water-powered industries around which Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and others had settled near the fort; in 1839 the army forced them off military lands, and most moved downriver, just outside the military reservation, to the area that became St. Paul.[27]



Minnesota underwent several territorial organizations. From 1812 to 1821 it was part of the Territory of Missouri that corresponded with much of the Louisiana Purchase. It was briefly an unorganized territory (1821-1834) and was later consolidated with Wisconsin, Iowa and half the Dakotas to form the short-lived Territory of Michigan (1834-1836). From 1836 to 1848 Minnesota and Iowa were part of the Territory of Wisconsin. From 1838 to 1846 Minnesota west of the Mississippi River was part of the Territory of Iowa. Minnesota east of the Mississippi was part of Wisconsin until 1848. When Iowa gained statehood western Minnesota was in an Unorganized Territory again. Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849. The first territorial legislature, held on September 2, 1849,[28] was dominated by men of New England ancestry.[29] Thousands of pioneers had come to create farms and cut timber. Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858. The founding population was so overwhelmingly of New England origins that the state was dubbed "the New England of the West".[30][31][32][33]





Settlers escaping the Dakota War of 1862

Treaties between the U.S. Government and the Dakota and Ojibwe gradually forced the natives off their lands and onto reservations. In 1861 residents of Mankato formed the Knights of the Forest, with a goal of eliminating all Native Americans from Minnesota. As conditions deteriorated for the Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the Dakota War of 1862.[34] The six-week war ended with the execution of 38 Dakota and the exile of many to the Crow Creek Reservation in Dakota Territory.[25] As many as 800 settlers died during the war.[35] Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey subsequently declared that "the Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the state.”[36] He also placed a bounty of $25/scalp on the heads of the Dakota men. Over 1,600 Dakota women, children and elderly walked from the Lower Sioux Agency to Fort Snelling to be held until the spring thaw allowed riverboats to take them out of Minnesota to Crow Creek by the Great Sioux Reservation. Shortly after arriving at the fort, one of the women was raped by soldiers while gathering firewood.[37] William Crooks, commander of 6th Minnesota, had a palisade erected around the encampment on Pike island, just below the fort, to protect native people from the soldiers and settlers.[38] Conditions there were poor. The food was meager, measles and cholera swept the enclosure and nothing had been done to provide sanitation.[39] Many died. The men were imprisoned or had fled.[40] In early 1863, Ramsey resigned as governor to become the Federal Indian Commissioner. His successor, Governor Henry Swift, raised the bounty to $200/scalp immediately.[40] When hostilities broke out there were 6,500-7,000 Sioux in the state. When hostilities ended there were 2,000 in custody. The remainder had fled, the Canadians having set aside two parcels of 7,000 and 8,000 acres for those who crossed into Manitoba. The Canadians were not eager to take in the displaced Minnesota Sioux but went on to set aside even more land for them.[41] Upon becoming Indian Commissioner, Ramsey set out to get the Ojibwe too. In 1863 he negotiated the Treaty of Old Crossing, whereby the Ojibwe ceded all their land in northern Minnesota and moved to reservations.



Logging, farming and railroads were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls and logging centers of Pine City, Marine on St. Croix, Stillwater, and Winona processed vast quantities of timber. These cities were on rivers that were ideal for transportation.[25] St. Anthony Falls was later tapped to provide power for flour mills. Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers'" or "clear" flour, which it replaced.[42] By 1900 Minnesota mills, led by Pillsbury, Northwestern and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of General Mills), were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain.[43]





Phelps Mill in Otter Tail County

The state's iron-mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the Vermilion and Mesabi ranges in the 1880s, followed by the Cuyuna Range in the early 1900s. The ore went by rail to Duluth and Two Harbors for ship transport east via the Great Lakes.[25]



Industrial development and the rise of manufacturing caused the population to shift gradually from rural areas to cities during the early 20th century. Nevertheless, farming remained prevalent. Minnesota's economy was hit hard by the Great Depression, resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and labor unrest. Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the Dakotas were hit by drought from 1931 to 1935. New Deal programs provided some economic turnaround. The Civilian Conservation Corps and other programs around the state established some jobs for Indians on their reservations, and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 provided the tribes with a mechanism of self-government. This gave Natives a greater voice within the state and promoted more respect for tribal customs because religious ceremonies and native languages were no longer suppressed.[26]



After the war, industrial development quickened. New technology increased farm productivity through automation of feedlots for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising chickens in large buildings. Planting became more specialized with hybridization of corn and wheat, and farm machinery such as tractors and combines became the norm. University of Minnesota professor Norman Borlaug contributed to these developments as part of the Green Revolution.[26] Suburban development accelerated due to increased postwar housing demand and convenient transportation. Increased mobility in turn enabled more specialized jobs.[26]



Minnesota became a center of technology after World War II. Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the United States Navy. It later merged with Remington Rand, and then became Sperry Rand. William Norris left Sperry in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation (CDC).[44] Cray Research was formed when Seymour Cray left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker Medtronic also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949.



The United States Navy and Coast Guard have recognized Minnesota with:



USS Minnesota (1855) steam frigate

USS Minnesota (BB-22) Connecticut-class battleship

USS Minnesota (SSN-783) Virginia-class submarine

USS Minnesotan (ID-4545)

SS Gopher State (T-ACS-4)

Geography

Main article: Geography of Minnesota



Scalable map of Minnesota, showing roads and major bodies of water

Minnesota is the second northernmost U.S. state (after Alaska) and northernmost contiguous state, as the isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods County is the only part of the 48 contiguous states north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U.S. region known as the Upper Midwest and part of North America's Great Lakes Region. It shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and a land and water border with Wisconsin to the east. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba are to the north. With 86,943 square miles (225,180 km2),[45] or approximately 2.25% of the United States,[46] Minnesota is the 12th-largest state.[47]



Geology

Main article: Geology of Minnesota

See also: List of lakes in Minnesota and List of Minnesota rivers



Tilted beds of the Middle Precambrian Thomson Formation in Jay Cooke State Park[48]

Minnesota has some of the earth's oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6 billion years old (80% as old as the planet).[48][49] About 2.7 billion years ago basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean; the remains of this volcanic rock formed the Canadian Shield in northeast Minnesota.[48][50] The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Since a period of volcanism 1.1 billion years ago, Minnesota's geological activity has been more subdued, with no volcanism or mountain formation, but with repeated incursions of the sea, which left behind multiple strata of sedimentary rock.[48]



In more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the state's landscape and sculpted its terrain.[48] The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago.[48] These glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift.[51] Much of the remainder of the state has fifty feet (15 m) or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago. Its flat bed now is the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from Fort Snelling.[48] Minnesota is geologically quiet today; it experiences earthquakes infrequently, most of them minor.[52]





Palisade Head on Lake Superior was formed from a Precambrian rhyolitic lava flow.[48]

The state's high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet (701 m), which is only 13 miles (21 km) away from the low point of 601 feet (183 m) at the shore of Lake Superior.[50][53] Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a gently rolling peneplain.[48]



Two major drainage divides meet in Minnesota's northeast in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed. Precipitation can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the Saint Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean.[54]



The state's nickname "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is apt, as there are 11,842 Minnesota lakes over 10 acres (4 ha) in size.[55] Minnesota's portion of Lake Superior is the largest at 962,700 acres (389,600 ha; 3,896 km2) and deepest (at 1,290 ft (390 m)) body of water in the state.[55] Minnesota has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively flow for 69,000 miles (111,000 km).[55] The Mississippi River begins its journey from its headwaters at Lake Itasca and crosses the Iowa border 680 miles (1,090 km) downstream.[55] It is joined by the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling, by the St. Croix River near Hastings, by the Chippewa River at Wabasha, and by many smaller streams. The Red River drains the northwest part of the state northward toward Canada's Hudson Bay. Approximately 10.6 million acres (4,300,000 ha; 43,000 km2) of wetlands are within Minnesota's borders, the most of any state outside Alaska.[56]



Flora and fauna

Main article: Natural history of Minnesota

Minnesota has four ecological provinces: prairie parkland, in the southwestern and western parts of the state; the eastern broadleaf forest (Big Woods) in the southeast, extending in a narrowing strip to the state's northwestern part, where it transitions into tallgrass aspen parkland; and the northern Laurentian mixed forest, a transitional forest between the northern boreal forest and the broadleaf forests to the south.[57] These northern forests are a vast wilderness of pine and spruce trees mixed with patchy stands of birch and poplar.



Much of Minnesota's northern forest has undergone logging, leaving only a few patches of old growth forest today in areas such as in the Chippewa National Forest and the Superior National Forest, where the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has some 400,000 acres (162,000 ha) of unlogged land.[58] Although logging continues, regrowth and replanting keep about a third of the state forested.[59] Nearly all Minnesota's prairies and oak savannas have been fragmented by farming, grazing, logging, and suburban development.[60]



While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the pine marten, elk, woodland caribou, and bison,[61] others like whitetail deer and bobcat thrive. Minnesota has the nation's largest population of timber wolves outside Alaska,[62] and supports healthy populations of black bears, moose, and gophers. Located on the Mississippi Flyway, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as geese and ducks, and game birds such as grouse, pheasants, and turkeys. It is home to birds of prey, including the largest number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states as of 2007,[63] red-tailed hawks, and snowy owls. Hawk Ridge is one of the premier bird watching sites in North America. The lakes teem with sport fish such as walleye, bass, muskellunge, and northern pike, and brook, brown, and rainbow trout populate streams in the southeast and northeast.



Climate

Main article: Climate of Minnesota



Köppen climate types of Minnesota

Minnesota experiences temperature extremes characteristic of its continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. The lowest temperature recorded was −60 °F (−51 °C) at Tower on February 2, 1996, and the highest was 114 °F (46 °C) at Moorhead on July 6, 1936.[64] Meteorological events include rain, snow, blizzards, thunderstorms, hail, derechos, tornadoes, and high-velocity straight-line winds. The growing season varies from 90 days in the far northeast to 160 days in southeast Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and average temperatures range from 37 to 49 °F (3 to 9 °C).[65] Average summer dewpoints range from about 58 °F (14 °C) in the south to about 48 °F (9 °C) in the north.[65][66] Average annual precipitation ranges from 19 to 35 inches (48 to 89 cm), and droughts occur every 10 to 50 years.[65]







Protected lands



Pose Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Minnesota's first state park, Itasca State Park, was established in 1891, and is the source of the Mississippi River.[68] Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000 km2), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The Chippewa and Superior national forests comprise 5.5 million acres (22,000 km2). The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000 km2) and a thousand lakes. To its west is Voyageurs National Park. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) is a 72-mile-long (116 km) corridor along the Mississippi River through the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area connecting a variety of sites of historic, cultural, and geologic interest.[69]



Cities and towns

See also: List of cities in Minnesota and List of townships in Minnesota



National Farmers Bank in Owatonna by Louis Sullivan

Saint Paul, in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's capital city since 1849, first as capital of the Territory of Minnesota, and then as the state capital since 1858.



Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are collectively known as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the country's 16th-largest metropolitan area and home to about 55 percent of the state's population.[70] The remainder of the state is known as "Greater Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota".[71]



The state has 17 cities with populations above 50,000 as of the 2010 census. In descending order of population, they are Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Saint Cloud, Woodbury, Eagan, Maple Grove, Coon Rapids, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Blaine, and Lakeville.[72] Of these only Rochester, Duluth, and Saint Cloud are outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.



Minnesota's population continues to grow, primarily in the urban centers. The populations of metropolitan Sherburne and Scott counties doubled between 1980 and 2000, while 40 of the state's 87 counties lost residents over the same period.[73]



The United States Navy has recognized multiple Minnesota communities.



Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Minnesota

Population



Minnesota's population distribution

Historical population

Census Pop. %±

1850 6,077 —

1860 172,023 2,730.7%

1870 439,706 155.6%

1880 780,773 77.6%

1890 1,310,283 67.8%

1900 1,751,394 33.7%

1910 2,075,708 18.5%

1920 2,387,125 15.0%

1930 2,563,953 7.4%

1940 2,792,300 8.9%

1950 2,982,483 6.8%

1960 3,413,864 14.5%

1970 3,804,971 11.5%

1980 4,075,970 7.1%

1990 4,375,099 7.3%

2000 4,919,479 12.4%

2010 5,303,925 7.8%

2020 5,706,494 7.6%

Source: 1910–2020[74]

From fewer than 6,120 white settlers in 1850, Minnesota's official population grew to over 1.7 million by 1900. Each of the next six decades saw a 15 percent increase in population, reaching 3.4 million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11 percent to 3.8 million in 1970, and an average of 9 percent over the next three decades to 4.9 million in the 2000 Census.[73]



The 2020 United States Census shows Minnesota's population at 5,709,752 on April 1, 2020, a 7.65% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[4] The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota's center of population is in Hennepin County.[75]



As of the 2010 Census Minnesota's population was 5,303,925. The gender makeup of the state was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. 24.2% of the population was under age 18; 9.5% between 18 and 24; 26.3% from 25 to 44; 27.1% from 45 to 64; and 12.9% 65 or older.[76]



The table below shows the racial composition of Minnesota's population as of 2017.



According to the 2017 American Community Survey, 5.1% of Minnesota's population were of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): Mexican (3.5%), Puerto Rican (0.2%), Cuban (0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.2%).[78] The ancestry groups claimed by more than five percent of the population were: German (33.8%), Norwegian (15.3%), Irish (10.5%), Swedish (8.1%), and English (5.4%).[79]



In 2011 non-Hispanic whites were involved in 72.3 percent of all the births.[80] Minnesota's growing minority groups, however, still form a smaller percentage of the population than in the nation as a whole.[81]



Minnesota has the country's largest Somali population,[82] with an estimated 57,000 people, the largest concentration outside of the Horn of Africa.[83]





The French Renaissance style Cathedral of St. Paul in the city of St. Paul

Religion

The majority of Minnesotans are Protestants, including a large Lutheran contingent, owing to the state's largely Northern European ethnic makeup. Roman Catholics (of largely German, Irish, French and Slavic descent) make up the largest single Christian denomination. A 2010 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32 percent of Minnesotans were affiliated with Mainline Protestant traditions, 21 percent were Evangelical Protestants, 28 percent Roman Catholic, 1 percent each Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Black Protestant, and smaller amounts of other faiths, with 13 percent unaffiliated.[84] According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, the denominations with the most adherents in 2010 were the Roman Catholic Church with 1,150,367; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 737,537; and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 182,439.[85] This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, which also gives detailed percentages for many individual denominations.[86] The international Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference is headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota.[87] Although Christianity is dominant, Minnesota has a long history with non-Christian faiths. Ashkenazi Jewish pioneers set up Saint Paul's first synagogue in 1856.[88] Minnesota is home to more than 30 mosques, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area.[89] The Temple of ECK, the spiritual home of Eckankar, is based in Minnesota.[90]



Economy

Main article: Economy of Minnesota

See also: List of Minnesota locations by per capita income

Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed to emphasize finished products and services. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of the economy is its diversity; the relative outputs of its business sectors closely match the United States as a whole.[92] Minnesota's economy had a gross domestic product of $383 billion in 2019,[93] with 33 of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies by revenue headquartered in Minnesota,[94] including Target, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, General Mills, U.S. Bancorp, Ameriprise, Hormel, Land O' Lakes, SuperValu, Best Buy, and Valspar. Private companies based in Minnesota include Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the United States,[95] and Carlson Companies, the parent company of Radisson Hotels.[96]



Minnesota's per capita personal income in 2019 was $58,834, the thirteenth-highest in the nation.[97] Its 2019 median household income was $74,593, ranking thirteenth in the U.S. and fifth among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast.[98]



As of December 2018 the state's unemployment rate was 2.8 percent.[99]



Industry and commerce



The IDS Tower, designed by Philip Johnson, is the state's tallest building,[100] reflecting César Pelli's Art Deco-style Wells Fargo Center.

Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture. Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by St. Anthony Falls. Although less than one percent of the population is now employed in the agricultural sector,[101] it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking sixth in the nation in the value of products sold.[102] The state is the nation's largest producer of sugar beets, sweet corn, and peas for processing, and farm-raised turkeys. Minnesota is also a large producer of corn and soybeans,[103] and has the most food cooperatives per capita in the United States.[104] Forestry remains strong, including logging, pulpwood processing and paper production, and forest products manufacturing. Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore mines, which produced a significant portion of the world's iron ore for more than a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted, taconite mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2016 the state produced 60 percent of the country's usable iron ore.[103] The mining boom created the port of Duluth, which continues to be important for shipping ore, coal, and agricultural products. The manufacturing sector now includes technology and biomedical firms, in addition to the older food processors and heavy industry. The nation's first indoor shopping mall was Edina's Southdale Center, and its largest is Bloomington's Mall of America.



Minnesota is one of 45 U.S. states with its own lottery; its games include multi-jurisdiction draws, in-house draws, and other games.



Energy use and production

Further information: List of power stations in Minnesota

Minnesota produces ethanol fuel and is the first to mandate its use, a ten percent mix (E10).[105] In 2019 there were more than 411 service stations supplying E85 fuel, comprising 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.[106] A two percent biodiesel blend has been required in diesel fuel since 2005. Minnesota is ranked in the top ten for wind energy production. The state gets nearly one fifth of all its electrical energy from wind.[107]



Xcel Energy is the state's largest utility and is headquartered in the state;[108] it is one of five investor-owned utilities.[109] There are also a number of municipal utilities.[109]



State taxes

Minnesota has a progressive income tax structure; the four brackets of state income tax rates are 5.35, 7.05, 7.85 and 9.85 percent.[110] As of 2008 Minnesota was ranked 12th in the nation in per capita total state and local taxes.[111] In 2008 Minnesotans paid 10.2 percent of their income in state and local taxes; the U.S. average was 9.7 percent.[111] The state sales tax in Minnesota is 6.875 percent, but clothing, prescription drug medications and food items for home consumption are exempt.[112] The state legislature may allow municipalities to institute local sales taxes and special local taxes, such as the 0.5 percent supplemental sales tax in Minneapolis.[113] Excise taxes are levied on alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel. The state imposes a use tax on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota.[112] Owners of real property in Minnesota pay property tax to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.



Culture