The Economy/Average Income

A healthy balance of diverse industries supports Minnesota’s economy. Services make up the largest segment, followed by manufacturing, government, transportation, agriculture, and mining and construction. The state's location on the Great Lakes and its access to the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Mississippi River make it a major marketing and distribution center of the Midwest.

Minnesota ranked 17th in the nation in terms of Gross State Product. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Minnesota’s GPS in 2004 was $224 billion. For household income, Minnesota ranked 12th. Salaries tend to be lowest in the more rural areas, particularly in the northwest portion of the state.

• Average Household Income– $48,000
• Average Per-Capita Personal Income– $34,861
• Average House Value– $87,398

Manufacturing

After 1950 manufacturing surpassed agriculture in economic value. Today it employs almost one fifth of the state's work force and accounts for 21 percent of the GSP.

Machinery, mainly office machines and computers, heads the list in value. It is followed closely by food processing, such as butter and cheese manufacturing, meat packaging, sugar refining, and vegetable canning. Minneapolis was once a leading flour-milling center in the United States, and cereals continue to be processed there.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is also a large printing and publishing center. Fabricated metal products are produced in St. Paul. Wood pulp and paper products are produced throughout the state. Crude oil is refined near Minneapolis and Duluth. Minnesota boasts of more than 3,000 manufacturing companies; included in a long list are:

• Cargill, 3M Co
• Northwest Airlines
• Target Corporation
• U.S. Bancorp
• Dairy Queen
• General Mills
• Pillsbury Company
• Wells Fargo & Co
• Caterpillar Inc
• Honeywell
• Schwan

Mining and Construction

Iron ore, Minnesota's leading mineral, is taken from the Mesabi, Vermilion, and Cuyuna ranges. Most of the best pockets of ore have been exhausted, but the iron-bearing taconite rock of the Mesabi Range is still one of the nation's leading sources of iron.

 
Sand and gravel are quarried throughout the state for use in the construction of roads and buildings. Central Minnesota has large deposits of granite, which is used as building stone and for monuments. Limestone and clay are also mined.

Together mining and construction account for about 4 percent of the GSP and employ the same percent of the state's work force.

Transportation

Minnesota has a highly varied transportation network. The first railroad connected St. Paul and St. Anthony in 1862, and by 1900, almost every town was served by railroad. The state's modern highway system had its beginning in 1920 when the people voted to approve a network of roads. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is the largest of more than 140 airports in the state. And Duluth is one of the world's leading freight ports.

Communication

Minnesota has 30 daily newspapers and 290 weeklies. The Star Tribune, published in Minneapolis, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press have the largest circulations. There are 18 television stations and 190 radio stations in the state.