# Rochester, Minnesota (Somali community)

> Rochester, Minnesota's Somali community: Census counts, 1990s arrivals, Mayo-area health research, groups, the 2026 council vote and ties home.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/rochester-minnesota/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

The 2020 Census counted 3,945 Somali residents in Rochester, Minnesota, the city of Mayo Clinic ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/)). The 2020–2024 survey estimated 3,306, and the community dates from the 1990s ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340); [Post Bulletin, September 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)).

## How many Somalis live in Rochester?

The 2020–2024 American Community Survey (ACS) counted 3,306 Rochester residents of Somali race or origin, plus or minus 849 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340)). Olmsted County had 3,360 and the Rochester metro area 3,375 ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340)). Nearly every Somali resident of the county lives in the city.

The same survey counted 2,110 people of Somali ancestry and 1,320 born in Somalia in Rochester ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340); [ACS 2020–2024, B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340)). The state demographer put Rochester's Somali population at about 4,000 in 2020 ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/)).

Counts were already disputed twenty years ago. The 2000 Census found 1,131 Somalis in Rochester ([Post Bulletin, 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)). The city's planning director estimated about 1,800 in 1999 and up to 2,800 in 2002, using 758 pupils who spoke Somali at home ([Post Bulletin, 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)).

## How did Somalis come to Rochester?

Rochester's population doubled after 1980, mainly because of Mayo Clinic's growth ([MPR News, May 2019](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/30/in-rochester-helping-single-moms-rebound-from-tough-times)). Somali families followed Bosnian refugees to the city in the 1990s ([MinnPost, April 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)). The Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association (IMAA) estimated about 2,500 Somalis in Rochester as early as 1999 ([Post Bulletin, 2002](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis)).

Many came after first settling elsewhere in the United States. IMAA, founded about 1984, says a growing share of its clients are secondary migrants ([MinnPost, 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)). Food processing, hospitality and health care draw new arrivals to the area ([MinnPost, 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)).

Arrivals continue on a small scale. In 2025, Olmsted County received 12 of Minnesota's 545 new primary refugee arrivals ([Minnesota Department of Health, Refugee Health Report 2025](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf)). Somalia was the second-largest source country statewide that year, with 133 arrivals ([MDH, 2025](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf)).

The Minnesota Historical Society's Somali oral history project, recorded from 2013 to 2016, includes interviews in Rochester ([MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). For the journeys before resettlement, see [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/).

## Work, health and money

In 2003, the African Development Center, which supports African-owned businesses, opened an office in Rochester ([MNopedia](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota)). [Brava](/en/regions/barawa/), a Somali restaurant on Marion Road SE, opened around 2015 and serves dishes such as suqaar with sabaayad and sambuusa ([Post Bulletin, July 2017](https://www.postbulletin.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/brava-gives-rochester-a-taste-of-somalia)).

Rochester's Somali community is the subject of long-running health research. Since 2004, the Rochester Healthy Community Partnership, a community and academic partnership, has run health research with Somali and other immigrant families ([Hanza et al., Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2016](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5665561)).

A 2018 survey by that partnership reached 646 Somali adults in Olmsted County ([Mohamed et al., Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235)). Some 93% were born outside the United States, 90% had health insurance, and 92% had family income under $50,000 ([Mohamed et al., 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235)). Respondents named diabetes and high blood pressure as the community's top health concerns ([Mohamed et al., 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235)).

Since 2014, the Community Interfaith Dialogue on Islam has given emergency cash and small loans to single mothers, with a focus on Muslim families ([MPR News, 2019](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/30/in-rochester-helping-single-moms-rebound-from-tough-times)). Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Rochester Somali Community Center launched as a non-profit in November 2023 and plans a building for youth sport and homework help ([KTTC, November 2023](https://www.kttc.com/2023/11/13/new-local-somali-nonprofit-organization-celebrates-its-launch/)). It held a Somali Independence Day festival in July 2024, with music, dance and an eight-team football tournament ([KTTC, July 2024](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/)).

The Somali American Social Service Association organised an information event in December 2025 with immigration, education, health and business speakers ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/20/somali-community-rochester-holds-informational-event-amid-uncertainty/)). Somali Community Resettlement Services, which has a Rochester office, used a 2020–2021 state grant to teach Somali language and dance to 102 students ([Minnesota Legacy Amendment](https://www.legacy.mn.gov/projects/somali-community-resettlement-services)).

IMAA employs Somali-speaking staff, and in 2019 had 31 full-time workers speaking about 15 languages ([MinnPost, 2019](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/)). In 2015, Rochester Somali leaders publicly dismissed an al-Shabaab video threatening US shopping malls as a "desperate threat" ([Med City Beat, February 2015](https://www.medcitybeat.com/news-blog/2015/2/24/somali-leaders-in-rochester-call-terror-groups-video-a-desperate-threat)).

## What does the community face now?

**National remarks, and a city's reply.** In early December 2025, the US president announced more immigration enforcement aimed at Somalis in Minnesota ([KTTC, 2 December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/03/rochester-somali-community-leader-responds-federal-immigration-crackdown-expected-twin-cities/?outputType=amp)). He had repeatedly called Somalis "garbage" ([KTTC, 8 December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp)). Mayor Kim Norton said she stood with Somali residents and that blaming a whole community for fraud was wrong ([KTTC, 3 December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/)). She said local police would not assist federal immigration detentions ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/)).

**A rally.** On 7 December 2025, residents met at 125 Live under the banner "We are home and here to stay" ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp)). The Muslim Coalition of ISAIAH hosted, and the mayor and the NAACP Rochester Branch president spoke ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp)).

**Council and county votes.** In January 2026, the city council voted 5–1 to reaffirm its support for the Somali community ([Post Bulletin, January 2026](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far)). The one objection was to sending the statement to lawmakers, not to its content ([Post Bulletin](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far)). Olmsted County commissioners unanimously signed a similar statement on 16 December 2025 ([Post Bulletin](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far)).

Nationwide, 705 Somalis held Temporary Protected Status, by an August 2025 congressional report ([KTTC, December 2025](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/)). About 87% of foreign-born Somali Minnesotans are naturalised US citizens ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/)).

## How is Rochester tied to home?

The July 2024 festival marked 64 years since independence on 1 July 1960 ([KTTC, 2024](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/)). Organisers said it was meant to connect American-born children with their heritage ([KTTC](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/)).

Across the United States, UNHCR counted 1,355 refugees and 3,945 asylum seekers from Somalia at the end of 2024 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true)). For the state's main community, see [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Related pages

- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [St. Cloud, Minnesota](/en/diaspora/st-cloud/)
- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Migration routes](/en/diaspora/migration-routes/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Life after leaving](/en/diaspora/life-after-leaving/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Rochester city, Olmsted County and Rochester metro, via Census Reporter. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US2754880,05000US27109,31000US40340). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Minnesota Department of Health. "Minnesota Refugee Health Report 2025." 2026. [health.state.mn.us](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/rih/stats/25rhrpt.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Minnesota Historical Society. Anduin Wilhide, "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota," MNopedia. 2018, updated 2026. [mnhs.org](https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/somali-and-somali-american-experiences-minnesota). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Post Bulletin. "Census counts 11,100 Somalis." 17 September 2002. [postbulletin.com](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/census-counts-11-100-somalis). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. KTTC. "By the numbers: Minnesota's Somali population, according to Census data." 4 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/by-numbers-minnesotas-somali-population-according-census-data/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. KTTC. "Rochester mayor denounces president's comments and pledges support for local Somali residents." 3 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/04/rochester-mayor-denounces-presidents-comments-pledges-support-local-somali-residents/). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Andy Steiner, MinnPost. "'We live together': how a group dedicated to helping Rochester's immigrants and refugees has evolved." 29 April 2019. [minnpost.com](https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans-greater-minnesota/2019/04/we-live-together-how-a-group-dedicated-to-helping-rochesters-immigrants-and-refugees-has-evolved-to-meet-community-needs/). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. MPR News. "In Rochester, helping single moms rebound from tough times." 30 May 2019. [mprnews.org](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/30/in-rochester-helping-single-moms-rebound-from-tough-times). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Hanza MM, et al. "Lessons learned from community-led recruitment of immigrants and refugee participants for a randomized, community-based participatory research study." Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 18(5), 2016. [PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5665561). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Mohamed AA, et al. "An assessment of health priorities among a community sample of Somali adults." Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 24(2), 2022 (online 2021). [PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975235). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Kayley Gamm, Post Bulletin. "Brava gives Rochester a taste of Somalia." 13 July 2017. [postbulletin.com](https://www.postbulletin.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/brava-gives-rochester-a-taste-of-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. KTTC. "New local Somali nonprofit organization celebrates its launch." 12 November 2023. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2023/11/13/new-local-somali-nonprofit-organization-celebrates-its-launch/). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Matt Rineer, KTTC. "Somali Independence Day celebrated in Rochester." 6 July 2024. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/07/somali-independence-day-celebrated-rochester/). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. KTTC. "Rochester Somali community gathers for informational event amid uncertainty." 19 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/20/somali-community-rochester-holds-informational-event-amid-uncertainty/). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Minnesota Legislative Coordinating Commission, Legacy Amendment. "Somali Community Resettlement Services" (Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, FY2020). [legacy.mn.gov](https://www.legacy.mn.gov/projects/somali-community-resettlement-services). Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Med City Beat. "Somali leaders in Rochester call terror group's video a 'desperate threat'." 24 February 2015. [medcitybeat.com](https://www.medcitybeat.com/news-blog/2015/2/24/somali-leaders-in-rochester-call-terror-groups-video-a-desperate-threat). Checked 2026-11-12.
17. KTTC. "Rochester Somali community leader responds to federal immigration crackdown expected in Twin Cities." 2 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/03/rochester-somali-community-leader-responds-federal-immigration-crackdown-expected-twin-cities/?outputType=amp). Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Grant Jones, KTTC. "Rochester rallies around Somali community amid federal immigration concerns." 8 December 2025. [kttc.com](https://www.kttc.com/2025/12/08/rochester-rallies-around-somali-community-amid-federal-immigration-concerns/?outputType=amp). Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Post Bulletin. "Rochester City Council reaffirms support for Somali community; one member worries resolution goes a step too far." 6 January 2026. [postbulletin.com](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-city-council-reaffirms-support-for-somali-community-one-member-worries-resolution-goes-a-step-too-far). Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
21. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. [unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2024&yearTo=2024&coo=SOM&coa_all=true). Checked 2026-11-12.

---
I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.