Data

Although Northfield is less racially diverse than the coastal cities in the United States, there is a significant population of Asian Americans, and the number has been increasing throughout the recent years. Bolstered by the influx of Vietnamese refugees between 1975 and 1999, the population of Asian Americans in Northfield has grown to 4.4% as of 2022. Today, people of various Asian descents, such as Asian-Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, and many others call this town home. Nevertheless, this number does not take into account the international students who attend both St. Olaf College and Carleton College.

Overall, Minnesota has a growing Asian population that includes a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Similar to most regions in the United States, Minnesota’s early Asian Pacific population were predominantly Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos (Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, 2012). The earliest documentation of Asians in Minnesota was in 1880 when two Chinese men established the Chinese Laundry in St. Paul and the Lung Wing Laundry in Minneapolis (Holmquist, 1981). Of course, there were foreign students who came here for higher education, beginning more than a century ago. For instance, the first group of Chinese students attended the University of Minnesota in 1914 (China 100, 2014). Asian populations can be seen in almost every corner in the state nowadays. Below, we present information on the Asian populations of Minnesota and then information on the Northfield township.

* Excluding Taiwanese

Not only is there a present and significant Asian American population in Minnesota, but the state has also seen its substantial and continuous growth. According to the 2020 US Census, Asians in Minnesota have increased 21.4% since 2010 and 47.7% since 2000 while Minnesota’s total population only increased by 7.6% since 2010. 72% of Minnesota’s Asian population are age 44 or younger. For the state as a whole, 58% of Minnesotans are age 44 or younger (Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, 2023). Meanwhile, the Hmong population is the largest Asian population in Minnesota at 94,310 or 27.5% of all Asian Pacific Minnesotans as of 2022. A summary of the census information is provided below.

References

2023 annual report – minnesota.gov. Accessed May 14, 2024. https://mn.gov/deed/assets/pfa-annual-report_tcm1045-290187.pdf.

Bureau, United States Census. Explore census data. Accessed May 14, 2024. https://data.census.gov/table?t=Asian%3APopulations+and+People&g=040XX00US27_050XX00US27037%2C27131&d=DEC+Demographic+Profile.

Bureau, US Census. “Data Releases.” Census.gov, March 13, 2024. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/news/data-releases.html.

Northfield, Minnesota population 2024. Accessed May 14, 2024. https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/northfield-mn-population.

“Northfield, MN.” Data USA. Accessed May 14, 2024. https://datausa.io/profile/geo/northfield-mn?redirect=true.

Staff, America Counts. “Minnesota’s Population at 5,706,494 in 2020, up 7.6% since 2010.” Census.gov, July 17, 2023. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/minnesota-population-change-between-census-decade.html.