Somali Immigrants in Minnesota: Profile of a Struggling Group

Somali Immigrants in Minnesota:
Profile of a Struggling Group
Nearly every Somali household with children (89%) receives some form of welfare

Washington, D.C. (December 10, 2025) — A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies, Somali Immigrants in Minnesota: Profile of a Struggling Group, by Jason Richwine, documents the profound socioeconomic disparities between native Minnesotans and the state’s rapidly growing Somali population, now exceeding 75,000. In a state long known for its Scandinavian-style prosperity and high human-development indicators, the contrast “could hardly be greater.”

The findings reveal a community facing deep hardship —and burdening Minnesota’s social-service systems.

Key Findings:

• Severe child poverty
  • 52% of children in Somali households live in poverty
  • Only 8% of children in native-headed homes are poor
  • One in eight poor children in Minnesota lives in a Somali household
• Low education and limited English
  • 39% of working-age Somalis lack a high school diploma (vs. 5% of natives)
  • Half of long-term resident Somali adults still cannot speak English “very well”
• Extensive welfare use
  • 54% of Somali households receive food stamps (vs. 7% of native households)
  • 73% are on Medicaid (vs. 18% of natives)
  • 89% of Somali households with children receive welfare
• Overcrowding and public-health concerns
  • Somali households represent 10% of all overcrowded homes in Minnesota, despite making up less than 1% of all households.

Richwine notes that although recent fraud cases have drawn attention, welfare usage would remain extremely high even without fraud because poverty rates among Somalis are so elevated. “The way to reduce immigrant reliance on welfare,” he states, “is not only to tighten enforcement, but to reduce the number of new arrivals with very low earning power.”

The report underscores how a small but disadvantaged immigrant population can reshape the social landscape of a state once celebrated for its low poverty and high social trust.