Most think of Minnesota as being a State filled with people of Swedish, Finnish, or Danish ancestry. Although there is a strong influence and connection with the countries of Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, these three countries make up only about 28.2% of the total population of Minnesota.

The following is a listing of the ancestry of Minnesotans based on population data from 2005-2009*:

Ancestry
Estimated*
Percent
Margin of
Error (+/-)
Total population
5,188,581
100%
German
1,984,972
38.3%
0.2
Norwegian
878,452
16.9%
0.1
Irish
609,904
11.8%
0.1
Swedish
500,127
9.6%
0.1
English
336,539
6.5%
0.1
Polish
261,587
5.0%
0.1
French (except Basque)
220,743
4.3%
0.1
American
141,588
2.7%
0.1
Italian
128,336
2.5%
0.1
Dutch
109,236
2.1%
0.1
Czech
101,637
2.0%
0.1
Danish
88,315
1.7%
0.1
Subsaharan African
81,819
1.6%
0.1
Scottish
70,855
1.4%
0.1
French Canadian
55,917
1.1%
0.1
Scotch-Irish
53,565
1.0%
0.1
Russian
45,679
0.9%
0.1
Swiss
23,525
0.5%
0.1
Welsh
26,131
0.5%
0.1
Arab
18,390
0.4%
0.1
Hungarian
14,093
0.3%
0.1
Ukrainian
15,179
0.3%
0.1
Greek
12,359
0.2%
0.1
Slovak
8,394
0.2%
0.1
Lithuanian
7,040
0.1%
0.1
Portuguese
3,787
0.1%
0.1
West Indian (excluding Hispanic origin groups)
4,153
0.1%
0.1

The above data is collected voluntarily on the U.S. Census Form. The basic question on the 2000 Census was: “What is this person’s ancestry or ethnic origin.” This data may not be accurate because it is based on answers provided, which may or may not be correct.

Over the past few decades, both the Cambodian and Somali communities have grown significantly. Data for both communities were not provided by the U.S. Census, but it has been reported that Minnesota is home to one of the largest concentrations of both nationalities in the United States.

*Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005-2009 American Community Survey. The final 2010 data will not be available until mid to late 2011.