What is unique about Minnesota?

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington is the only metro area in Midwest to rank among the wealthiest in the country. The typical Twin Cities household earns $73,231 a year, well above the median income across Minnesota of $65,599 and the median across the United States of $57,617.

In 1856, territorial delegate Henry M. Rice decided the border should basically be the one we all know and love today. Once it split, thus creating the Minnesota River, the border extended due south to the Iowa border. There you have it, that's how Minnesota got its shape!

Minnesota is the fifth flattest state, with 47 percent of the state considered flat, flatter or flattest, and 53 percent not flat. That makes Minnesota flatter than Kansas, and significantly flatter than Wisconsin, the 29th flattest state. States are listed in order of least to most non-flat.

Near the geographic center of North America, it is bordered on the north by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, on the west by North Dakota and South Dakota, on the south by Iowa, and on the east by Wisconsin and Lake Superior. Minnesota entered the Union on May 11, 1858, as the 32nd state.

The report details demographic and economic characteristics of Minnesota's residents using a four-tiered definition of an area's character—urban, large town, small town, and rural—based on both population size and proximity to other communities.