Jessie Van Berkel and MaryJo Webster:
College students make up nearly two-thirds of the state’s annual net loss in domestic migration. Drawing people from across the U.S. and internationally is increasingly essential to maintain the state’s population and economy as birth rate declines. Within 20 years, Minnesota is expected to have more residents die each year than are born.
Minnesota saw a net loss of about 156,000 young adults to other states between 2006 and 2021, O’Neil said.
“As we think about ways to stabilize and grow our workforce, that really has to be part of the solution and part of the equation,” O’Neil said. “It just is where the numbers are.”
Long and her twin sister, Abby, are staying with their parents for the summer and enjoy biking around the Twin Cities. But both said Minnesota feels a little too nostalgic, the cities a little too familiar.