2025

Counties in Minnesota ranked by Black Population

This list ranks the 87 counties in Minnesota based on their Black or African American population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Black population in Minnesota

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  • 1
    Hennepin County
    Black population in Hennepin County is 202,493
    14.73% of Hennepin County population is Black
  • 2
    Ramsey County
    Black population in Ramsey County is 83,868
    14.13% of Ramsey County population is Black
  • 3
    Dakota County
    Black population in Dakota County is 44,365
    9.29% of Dakota County population is Black
  • 4
    Anoka County
    Black population in Anoka County is 36,973
    9.47% of Anoka County population is Black
  • 5
    Washington County
    Black population in Washington County is 18,356
    6.37% of Washington County population is Black

List of 87 counties in Minnesota by Black Population

View Methodology
Rank by Black Population
County
Black Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Minnesota Black Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Hennepin County 202,493 14.73% 40.84%
2 Ramsey County 83,868 14.13% 16.92%
3 Dakota County 44,365 9.29% 8.95%
4 Anoka County 36,973 9.47% 7.46%
5 Washington County 18,356 6.37% 3.70%
6 Stearns County 16,160 9.66% 3.26%
7 Olmsted County 14,124 8.17% 2.85%
8 11,408 6.96% 2.30%
9 5,319 2.54% 1.07%
10 5,137 7.11% 1.04%
11 5,109 4.87% 1.03%
12 4,702 3.08% 0.95%
13 4,182 6.02% 0.84%
14 4,101 5.64% 0.83%
15 3,441 2.99% 0.69%
16 2,939 6.37% 0.59%
17 1,950 4.45% 0.39%
18 1,942 4.56% 0.39%
19 1,757 4.84% 0.35%
20 1,708 4.31% 0.34%
21 1,503 6.02% 0.30%
22 1,385 2.20% 0.28%
23 1,270 2.11% 0.26%
24 1,240 2.39% 0.25%
25 1,156 2.32% 0.23%
26 1,092 3.29% 0.22%
27 1,059 2.13% 0.21%
28 1,039 2.69% 0.21%
29 1,028 3.85% 0.21%
30 916 2.98% 0.18%
31 915 1.32% 0.18%
32 714 1.64% 0.14%
33 712 2.15% 0.14%
34 532 1.11% 0.11%
35 526 1.37% 0.11%
36 487 1.29% 0.10%
37 442 1.26% 0.09%
38 422 1.28% 0.09%
39 404 1.00% 0.08%
40 391 1.30% 0.08%
41 372 1.32% 0.08%
42 354 1.80% 0.07%
43 337 3.24% 0.07%
44 334 1.21% 0.07%
45 315 1.44% 0.06%
46 312 3.15% 0.06%
47 278 1.43% 0.06%
48 276 1.21% 0.06%
49 273 1.32% 0.06%
49 273 1.03% 0.06%
50 271 1.79% 0.05%
51 269 1.21% 0.05%
52 268 1.85% 0.05%
53 254 2.11% 0.05%
54 236 1.39% 0.05%
55 234 2.28% 0.05%
55 234 1.45% 0.05%
56 227 1.43% 0.05%
57 223 1.51% 0.04%
58 218 0.99% 0.04%
59 217 1.35% 0.04%
60 211 1.28% 0.04%
61 208 0.86% 0.04%
62 195 1.94% 0.04%
63 186 1.20% 0.04%
64 180 1.58% 0.04%
65 171 1.65% 0.03%
66 160 1.60% 0.03%
67 152 1.20% 0.03%
68 143 1.11% 0.03%
69 118 1.86% 0.02%
69 118 1.01% 0.02%
70 99 1.44% 0.02%
71 98 1.43% 0.02%
72 97 1.04% 0.02%
72 97 1.61% 0.02%
73 83 1.91% 0.02%
74 74 0.88% 0.01%
75 65 1.23% 0.01%
76 55 0.86% 0.01%
77 51 0.55% 0.01%
78 49 1.21% 0.01%
79 42 0.63% 0.01%
80 36 0.87% 0.01%
81 29 0.84% 0.01%
82 24 0.20% -
83 16 0.28% -

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in Minnesota by their Black or African American population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Black Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Black, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Black alone, while others identify as Black along with another race (such as Black and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Black .
  • We’ve used the “Black alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Black population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Black alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Black .
  2. % of Total Minnesota Black Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Black population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Black populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Black population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Black populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.