Minnesota in Profile

Organized as territory: March 3, 1849

Entered Union: May 11, 1858 (32nd state)

Motto: L’ Étoile du Nord (The North Star)

Nicknames: “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” “The Gopher State,” “The North Star State”

Area: 86,938.87 square miles (12th largest state)

Land area: 79,610.08 square miles

Inland waters: 7,328.79 square miles

Width: 348 miles

Length: 406 miles

Highest point: Eagle Mountain (Cook County), 2,301 feet above sea level

Lowest point: Surface of Lake Superior, 602 feet above sea level

Major river systems: Mississippi, Minnesota, and Red River of the North; Minnesota water flows in three directions: north toHudson Bay, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and south to the Gulf of Mexico; no water flows into the state.

Number of lakes: 11,842 that are larger than 10 acres

Number of rivers and streams: 6,564 (69,200 miles)

Population: 5,417,838 (2013 estimate from Minnesota State Demographic Center)

Population density per square mile: 68.5 (Minnesota State Demographic Center/Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)

Largest cities: (2013 State Demographer’s Office population estimates)

• Minneapolis 400,938;
• St. Paul 296,542;
• Rochester 110,393;
• Duluth 86,139;
• Bloomington 85,935;
• Brooklyn Park 77,989;
• Plymouth 72,969

Urban population: 69.8% (2010 U.S. Census)

Rural population: 30.2% (2010 U.S. Census)
(Urban-rural populations defined by U.S. Census Bureau classifications)

Income: 

Per capita personal income estimate: $47,856 (2013 Bureau of Economic Analysis estimate)

2011 median household income: $61,162 (US Census Annual Social and Economic Supplement)