Rochester, Minnesota (Somali community)

The 2020 Census counted 3,945 Somali residents in Rochester, Minnesota, the city of Mayo Clinic (KTTC, December 2025). The 2020–2024 survey estimated 3,306, and the community dates from the 1990s (US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter; Post Bulletin, September 2002).

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). Olmsted County had 3,360 and the Rochester metro area 3,375 (ACS 2020–2024, B02025). 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; ACS 2020–2024, B05006). The state demographer put Rochester's Somali population at about 4,000 in 2020 (KTTC, December 2025).

Counts were already disputed twenty years ago. The 2000 Census found 1,131 Somalis in Rochester (Post Bulletin, 2002). 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).

How did Somalis come to Rochester?

Rochester's population doubled after 1980, mainly because of Mayo Clinic's growth (MPR News, May 2019). Somali families followed Bosnian refugees to the city in the 1990s (MinnPost, April 2019). The Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association (IMAA) estimated about 2,500 Somalis in Rochester as early as 1999 (Post Bulletin, 2002).

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). Food processing, hospitality and health care draw new arrivals to the area (MinnPost, 2019).

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). Somalia was the second-largest source country statewide that year, with 133 arrivals (MDH, 2025).

The Minnesota Historical Society's Somali oral history project, recorded from 2013 to 2016, includes interviews in Rochester (MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society). For the journeys before resettlement, see Migration routes.

Work, health and money

In 2003, the African Development Center, which supports African-owned businesses, opened an office in Rochester (MNopedia). Brava, a Somali restaurant on Marion Road SE, opened around 2015 and serves dishes such as suqaar with sabaayad and sambuusa (Post Bulletin, July 2017).

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).

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

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). Somalis abroad sent home US$3,134 million in 2025, about 24% of Somalia's GDP (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025).

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). It held a Somali Independence Day festival in July 2024, with music, dance and an eight-team football tournament (KTTC, July 2024).

The Somali American Social Service Association organised an information event in December 2025 with immigration, education, health and business speakers (KTTC, December 2025). 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).

IMAA employs Somali-speaking staff, and in 2019 had 31 full-time workers speaking about 15 languages (MinnPost, 2019). In 2015, Rochester Somali leaders publicly dismissed an al-Shabaab video threatening US shopping malls as a "desperate threat" (Med City Beat, February 2015).

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). He had repeatedly called Somalis "garbage" (KTTC, 8 December 2025). Mayor Kim Norton said she stood with Somali residents and that blaming a whole community for fraud was wrong (KTTC, 3 December 2025). She said local police would not assist federal immigration detentions (KTTC).

A rally. On 7 December 2025, residents met at 125 Live under the banner "We are home and here to stay" (KTTC, December 2025). The Muslim Coalition of ISAIAH hosted, and the mayor and the NAACP Rochester Branch president spoke (KTTC).

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). The one objection was to sending the statement to lawmakers, not to its content (Post Bulletin). Olmsted County commissioners unanimously signed a similar statement on 16 December 2025 (Post Bulletin).

Nationwide, 705 Somalis held Temporary Protected Status, by an August 2025 congressional report (KTTC, December 2025). About 87% of foreign-born Somali Minnesotans are naturalised US citizens (KTTC).

How is Rochester tied to home?

The July 2024 festival marked 64 years since independence on 1 July 1960 (KTTC, 2024). Organisers said it was meant to connect American-born children with their heritage (KTTC).

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). For the state's main community, see Minneapolis–St Paul.

Related pages

• Minneapolis–St Paul
• St. Cloud, Minnesota
• United States (Somali diaspora)
• Other US Somali communities
• Why and how Somalis left
• Migration routes
• Refugee camps
• Refugee papers and status
• Life after leaving
• 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. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Minnesota Department of Health. "Minnesota Refugee Health Report 2025." 2026. health.state.mn.us. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Minnesota Historical Society. Anduin Wilhide, "Somali and Somali American Experiences in Minnesota," MNopedia. 2018, updated 2026. mnhs.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Post Bulletin. "Census counts 11,100 Somalis." 17 September 2002. postbulletin.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. KTTC. "By the numbers: Minnesota's Somali population, according to Census data." 4 December 2025. kttc.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. KTTC. "Rochester mayor denounces president's comments and pledges support for local Somali residents." 3 December 2025. kttc.com. 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. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. MPR News. "In Rochester, helping single moms rebound from tough times." 30 May 2019. mprnews.org. 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. 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. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Kayley Gamm, Post Bulletin. "Brava gives Rochester a taste of Somalia." 13 July 2017. postbulletin.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. KTTC. "New local Somali nonprofit organization celebrates its launch." 12 November 2023. kttc.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Matt Rineer, KTTC. "Somali Independence Day celebrated in Rochester." 6 July 2024. kttc.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. KTTC. "Rochester Somali community gathers for informational event amid uncertainty." 19 December 2025. kttc.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Minnesota Legislative Coordinating Commission, Legacy Amendment. "Somali Community Resettlement Services" (Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, FY2020). legacy.mn.gov. 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. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. KTTC. "Rochester Somali community leader responds to federal immigration crackdown expected in Twin Cities." 2 December 2025. kttc.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Grant Jones, KTTC. "Rochester rallies around Somali community amid federal immigration concerns." 8 December 2025. kttc.com. 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. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." August 2026. centralbank.gov.so. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia as country of origin, 2024. unhcr.org. Checked 2026-11-12.