Methodology & Sources

Check our work. That's the whole idea.

What this site is

MN Somalis is an independent reference on Minnesota's Somali community, assembled entirely from public data: the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota state agencies and research organizations, the Minnesota Historical Society, and peer-cited academic research. It exists because these facts were scattered across government tables, PDFs, and reports — and deserved one well-organized, citable home. It publishes facts, not commentary.

How we handle numbers

Every statistic on this site carries a visible source and year. Where official measures disagree — most notably total population, where census methods yield estimates from roughly 61,000 to 108,500 — we show the range and label each measure rather than picking a convenient number. Economic figures based on models (such as IMPLAN economic-impact estimates) are labeled as estimates of economic contribution, not net fiscal analyses.

Population data updates annually when the Census Bureau releases new American Community Survey estimates, typically in September (1-year) and December (5-year).

Why numbers differ

The American Community Survey is a sample survey, not a full count, so every ACS figure is an estimate with a margin of error. Different ACS products also measure different things: 1-year estimates are more current but less precise; 5-year estimates are more precise but lag behind. Identity questions add another layer — counts based on ancestry, race, or place of birth each capture a different slice of the community, and many respondents skip the ancestry question entirely. This is why credible population estimates for Somali Minnesotans legitimately range from about 61,000 to 108,500, and why this site always tells you which measure a number comes from.

How sources are selected

We favor primary and institutional sources in this order: official government data (Census Bureau, state agencies), established research organizations (Minnesota Compass, Minnesota Chamber Foundation), the Minnesota Historical Society, and peer-cited academic research. News outlets are cited only when they report or analyze underlying official data. Advocacy sources — on any side — are not used.

How this site was built

AI tools assisted with gathering, organizing, and drafting the content on this site. Every statistic comes from a publicly available source, is linked to that source, and every effort has been made to represent those sources accurately. See the About page for more on the project.

Corrections

Found an error, a stale figure, or a better primary source? Email hello@mnsomalis.com. If a correction checks out, we make it and note it.

Sources