Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey

Over 1 in 7 Minnesotans who needed a reliable internet connection during the pandemic did not have one

The need for widespread internet access became even more pronounced during the pandemic as many people across the state shifted to working from home and children shifted from in-person to remote online learning. Despite a large proportion of Minnesotans with reliable internet access, more than 1 in 7 Minnesotans who needed a reliable internet connection for work or school did not have one.

Quiz: How well do you know what is on the mind of Minnesotans?

In partnership with Minnesota Public Radio News and other news outlets, the APM Research Lab conducted a major survey in 2021, providing a representative picture of the opinions and experiences of several racial and ethnic groups.

Many Minnesotans lack trust in state government

Minnesotans express more trust in the medical system, the police and public schools than in the state government. White and Indigenous Minnesotans are more likely to be distrustful than other racial groups.

Diverse perspectives on Minnesota's arts and culture offerings

Nearly three-quarters of all Minnesotans rate the state’s cultural amenities positively and one-quarter of Minnesota adults take advantage of them at least once a month. But Black and Indigenous residents say their own culture isn’t represented.

Response panel: Discrimination in Minnesota

Among the key findings from our Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey is that racial and ethnic discrimination is common in Minnesota, matching—and often exceeding—levels measured in an earlier national survey. We’ve asked several thought-leaders and researchers to serve as an online response panel to help digest these findings, including offering their ideas for how the state might respond.

Good news and good ideas from Minnesota’s diverse communities

Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Hmong, and other Asian Minnesotans note the "most positive thing" happening in their communities right now, and make recommendations for the one thing they would like to see changed in the state.

Watch: Positive things happening in Minnesota's diverse communities (8 min video)

MPR News coverage: Survey: More Minnesotans rise to fight racism, educate themselves about social injustice

Discrimination is common nationwide—and even more so for Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian Minnesotans

Minnesota is home to some of the nation’s worst race-based disparities in employment and homeownership—and it is where George Floyd was murdered at the hands of police, sparking a national reckoning. Could that be because discrimination is worse in Minnesota? According to one recent survey the answer is: Quite possibly, yes.

Sahan Journal coverage: Survey finds that people of color perceive discrimination more frequently in Minnesota than nationwide

Minnesotans’ experiences of discrimination

Forty-five percent of Minnesotan adults believe that discrimination “generally speaking” exists against their racial or ethnic group. The same proportion, 45%, believes that their racial or ethnic group is either often or sometimes discriminated against when applying for jobs. Roughly one-third of Minnesotans believe that their racial or ethnic group is subject to discrimination by the police or in the housing market, and 17% believe their group is discriminated against when trying to vote.

Counter Stories Podcast discussion: The “Minnesota Nice” hoax

News consumption and trust in the media

Fewer than half of Minnesotan adults trust in the news media (less than previously reported results related to the police and the public schools). Survey results also show that a majority of Black Minnesotans feel that they are portrayed in an overly negative way in the state’s news media, and that a majority of Indigenous, Latinx, Hmong and other Asian Minnesotans feel that there are too few stories about their communities. Results also include Minnesotans’ primary news sources.

Watch: Minnesotans’ primary news sources by race, ethnicity, age and political affiliation

MPR News coverage: Many Minnesotans distrust media

Trust in the state’s K-12 public schools

Minnesota is generally thought of as a highly educated state, but the state still struggles with some urgent issues. This report reveals that more than one-third of Minnesotans either never trust the state’s public schools or only trust them some of the time. Meanwhile, nearly half of Black Minnesotans believe children of their background rarely or never have the same opportunities as their White counterparts in K-12 public schools.

MPR News coverage: Minnesotans of color less likely to believe schools offer equal opportunities

Feelings and experiences with inclusion

The Twin Cities and, more generally, Minnesota are often cited among the best places in the nation to live. But is this the case for everyone? This report shows that 56% of BIPOC Minnesotans live in neighborhoods where most people are of a different race than them while only 4% of White Minnesotans can say the same.

MPR News coverage: Outdoor sports remain very white. Duluth groups are working to close the 'adventure gap'

Minnesotans are still hopeful, but less so than 4 years ago

In 2021, Minnesotans are less overwhelmingly optimistic than they were in 2017, and this is especially true among Black Minnesotans and Republicans. In 2017, 82% of Minnesotans said they were generally hopeful about Minnesota. Since then, we have lost 11 percentage points: 71% of Minnesotans now say they are hopeful.

Impacts of COVID-19 and attitudes toward the vaccine

This report looks at how COVID-19 has impacted Minnesotans and how people feel about getting vaccinated. The findings show stark differences between the attitudes of White and BIPOC Minnesotans, as well as the attitudes of Democrats and Republicans, toward getting inoculated.

MPR News coverage: New survey finds white unvaccinated Minnesotans strongly against COVID-19 shots; Stacey Danner wavered on the vaccine, friends hope his story sways others to get shots

Perceptions of policing and the criminal justice system

More than one-third of BIPOC Minnesotans say that they have personally experienced discrimination by the police, compared to just 5% of White Minnesotans. This report reveals Minnesotans’ attitudes toward and experiences with the state’s police force and criminal justice system.

Watch: Alyson Clary presents findings on how racial and ethnic groups feel about policing in Minnesota

MPR News coverage: Black Minnesotans have far less trust in police than white residents do

Press release: MPR News tunes in to the state with Minnesota’s Diverse Communities survey (Aug. 12, 2021)

This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

Support for this project also came from the Bush Foundation, the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation, and Securian Financial. Additionally, the Blandin Foundation and the Blue Cross and the Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation provided funding for the listening sessions that were so instructive to the creation of the survey.