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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Minnesota

0 persistent-poverty counties

Minnesota has 60 nonmetro counties and no counties flagged by USDA ERS for persistent poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 9.2% and child poverty is 10.6%.

0

Persistent-poverty counties

60

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

0

Residents in PPCs

87

Total counties

Minnesota by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Minnesota at a glance

Poverty rate

9.2%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

10.6%

Under 18

PPC share

0.0%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

69.0%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

3.64

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.22

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Minnesota's 208 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 87 in Minnesota.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Cottonwood 0.36
  2. 2 Cass 0.35
  3. 3 Redwood 0.35
  4. 4 Mahnomen 0.35
  5. 5 Big Stone 0.35

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Mahnomen 20.9%
  2. 2 Blue Earth 16.3%
  3. 3 Beltrami 16.0%
  4. 4 Wilkin 14.7%
  5. 5 Chippewa 14.4%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

Minnesota has no persistent-poverty counties in the 2025 ERS typology.

Every county in Minnesota

All 87 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Aitkin 8 — Retire. 12.3% 14.5% 15,930 0.31
Anoka 1 — — 6.6% 8.2% 367,095 0.03
Becker 6 — — 11.0% 16.3% 35,260 0.23
Beltrami 7 — — 16.0% 19.3% 46,421 0.29
Benton 3 — — 9.8% 9.0% 41,458 0.11
Big Stone 9 — Pop. loss 11.5% 17.8% 5,152 0.35
Blue Earth 3 — Housing 16.3% 12.8% 69,386 0.14
Brown 6 — — 7.7% 7.4% 25,826 0.22
Carlton 2 — — 11.1% 12.7% 36,457 0.08
Carver 1 — — 4.2% 4.0% 108,622 0.02
Cass 9 — Retire. 12.7% 20.3% 30,688 0.35
Chippewa 7 — — 14.4% 20.5% 12,388 0.28
Chisago 1 — — 5.9% 6.2% 57,434 0.02
Clay 3 — Housing 14.4% 16.1% 65,628 0.13
Clearwater 8 — — 11.2% 10.2% 8,579 0.31
Cook 9 — Retire. 11.3% 23.5% 5,633 0.35
Cottonwood 9 — Pop. loss 14.2% 18.7% 11,458 0.36
Crow Wing 4 — Retire. 9.7% 12.2% 67,113 0.15
Dakota 1 — — 5.6% 6.4% 442,204 0.02
Dodge 3 — — 5.4% 6.5% 20,962 0.10
Douglas 6 — Retire. 8.3% 8.6% 39,354 0.22
Faribault 8 — Pop. loss 11.8% 14.7% 13,909 0.31
Fillmore 3 — — 8.9% 12.9% 21,346 0.11
Freeborn 7 — Pop. loss 9.8% 11.3% 30,752 0.26
Goodhue 6 — — 9.3% 11.6% 47,844 0.22
Grant 9 — — 10.7% 14.8% 6,108 0.34
Hennepin 1 — — 10.0% 11.7% 1,268,903 0.04
Houston 3 — Pop. loss 6.5% 4.2% 18,768 0.10
Hubbard 9 — Retire. 9.7% 7.9% 21,700 0.34
Isanti 1 — — 7.8% 8.9% 41,934 0.03
Itasca 6 — — 12.7% 16.9% 45,141 0.24
Jackson 9 — Pop. loss 9.1% 10.0% 9,964 0.34
Kanabec 8 — — 9.8% 9.2% 16,261 0.30
Kandiyohi 4 — — 10.0% 13.4% 43,757 0.15
Kittson 9 — Pop. loss 9.7% 7.2% 4,163 0.34
Koochiching 7 — Pop. loss 10.7% 19.6% 11,950 0.27
Lac qui Parle 9 — Pop. loss 8.0% 8.8% 6,694 0.33
Lake 8 — — 8.3% 6.3% 10,911 0.30
Lake of the Woods 9 — Pop. loss 8.2% 8.6% 3,800 0.33
Le Sueur 1 — — 7.1% 6.7% 28,936 0.03
Lincoln 9 — Pop. loss 9.2% 7.0% 5,594 0.34
Lyon 7 — — 12.5% 12.5% 25,498 0.28
Mahnomen 8 — — 20.9% 28.2% 5,371 0.35
Marshall 8 — Pop. loss 7.4% 9.4% 8,961 0.29
Martin 6 — Pop. loss 11.1% 14.1% 19,864 0.23
McLeod 4 — — 7.7% 8.7% 36,771 0.14
Meeker 6 — — 8.3% 8.4% 23,422 0.22
Mille Lacs 1 — — 10.5% 13.7% 26,912 0.04
Morrison 6 — — 10.0% 10.9% 34,131 0.23
Mower 4 — — 12.1% 18.4% 40,069 0.16
Murray 9 — Pop. loss 8.1% 6.5% 8,119 0.33
Nicollet 3 — — 9.6% 9.7% 34,350 0.11
Nobles 7 — — 12.6% 15.5% 22,067 0.28
Norman 8 — Pop. loss 10.3% 12.8% 6,411 0.30
Olmsted 3 — — 7.9% 7.7% 163,425 0.11
Otter Tail 6 — — 8.9% 9.4% 60,281 0.22
Pennington 6 — — 9.9% 11.4% 13,877 0.23
Pine 8 — — 10.5% 11.8% 29,411 0.30
Pipestone 8 — Pop. loss 11.4% 12.8% 9,352 0.31
Polk 3 — — 11.7% 12.7% 30,905 0.12
Pope 8 — — 9.8% 11.2% 11,363 0.30
Ramsey 1 — Housing 12.4% 17.6% 544,438 0.05
Red Lake 8 — Pop. loss 7.8% 5.2% 3,922 0.29
Redwood 9 — Pop. loss 12.0% 12.1% 15,383 0.35
Renville 9 — Pop. loss 10.7% 12.7% 14,587 0.34
Rice 4 — — 9.3% 10.6% 67,389 0.15
Rock 2 — — 9.5% 10.6% 9,628 0.08
Roseau 9 — Pop. loss 11.0% 14.3% 15,301 0.34
Scott 1 — — 4.1% 4.4% 152,957 0.02
Sherburne 1 — — 4.8% 3.5% 99,178 0.02
Sibley 8 — Pop. loss 9.9% 11.5% 14,933 0.30
St. Louis 2 — — 13.4% 12.7% 200,056 0.09
Stearns 3 — — 12.2% 12.5% 159,358 0.12
Steele 5 — — 7.4% 8.4% 37,413 0.18
Stevens 7 — Pop. loss 10.3% 4.6% 9,686 0.27
Swift 9 — — 10.8% 11.8% 9,787 0.34
Todd 8 — — 11.8% 18.7% 25,402 0.31
Traverse 9 — Pop. loss 10.1% 12.9% 3,279 0.34
Wabasha 3 — — 8.4% 10.3% 21,519 0.11
Wadena 9 — — 11.4% 11.4% 14,135 0.35
Waseca 6 — Pop. loss 7.2% 5.9% 18,958 0.22
Washington 1 — — 5.0% 5.3% 272,298 0.02
Watonwan 8 — — 13.0% 22.9% 11,169 0.31
Wilkin 8 — Pop. loss 14.7% 15.7% 6,413 0.32
Winona 4 — — 13.4% 11.0% 49,705 0.17
Wright 1 — — 4.9% 5.4% 145,270 0.02
Yellow Medicine 9 — Pop. loss 8.5% 7.4% 9,509 0.33

Find a food pantry in Minnesota

Search Minnesota's 208 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Minnesota pantry directory

Minnesota SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Minnesota SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Minnesota food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology