How Big is Minneapolis? (Population & Physical Size in 2024)
Are you wondering how big is Minneapolis? Whether it be the physical size or the population, you might be curious about how big the large city is.
Minneapolis is located just next door to St. Paul, the capital city of Minnesota, and together they are known as the Twin Cities.
These two cities and all of their suburbs make up one of the largest metropolitan areas in the Midwest.
I lived just 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis and have spent a lot of time there growing up, so I’ve got good knowledge on the size of the city.
I’ve also lived in and visited many other major cities, so I’m able to compare them easily.
Within this post, you’ll find everything you need to know to learn about the size of Minneapolis, as well as its sister, St. Paul.
How Big is Minneapolis?
It can be tricky to decipher how big the city of Minneapolis actually is because of the fact that it’s surrounded by so many other cities.
Sometimes it’s hard to understand where Minneapolis ends and where another city begins!
When compared to other large cities in the Midwest, Minneapolis comes in at number 8, just behind Omaha and Kansas City.
Chicago leads the pack, with over 2 million residents calling the major city in Illinois home.
Based on population, Minneapolis is the largest city in the entire state of Minnesota, with St. Paul trailing behind by over 100,000 people.
From the iconic skyline to the sprawling suburbs, this bustling metropolis is packed with unique neighborhoods, cultural attractions, and natural beauty.
It’s no wonder why so many people love Minneapolis and the rest of the Twin Cities.
Now that you know that Minneapolis is in fact a very large city, let’s jump into the specifics of its size, based on physical size and population.
Physical Size of Minneapolis (Square Mileage)
The city of Minneapolis is fairly large, and when combined with the rest of the Twin Cities metro, it takes up over 6,000 square miles of land.
And when we combine just Minneapolis and St. Paul, we get a grand total of about 113 square miles.
But when we look solely at Minneapolis, the city itself is actually only just over 57 square miles.
This makes it the third largest city in the state of Minnesota, based on physical size, coming in behind Duluth (80 mi2) and Hibbing (187 mi2).
But because the city kind of flows into the rest of the Twin Cities, when people ask how big is Minneapolis, they likely mean the entire St. Paul metropolitan area.
I’ll tell you a bit more about the size of the entire Twin Cities area in a few paragraphs.
Population of Minneapolis
The entire Twin Cities metropolitan area is home to over 3 million people, but Minneapolis makes up only 14% of that population.
When we look at just Minneapolis, Minnesota, we can see that in 2022, according to the United States Census Bureau, an estimated 425,336 people called Minneapolis home.
This is the largest city in Minnesota, with St. Paul following behind with an estimated 307,193 people living in the city in 2022.
So when we put together Minneapolis and St. Paul, the grand total is about 730,000 people living in the direct Twin Cities region.
The Minneapolis population does play a huge role in the state though, because of how large of a number it is.
Below we’ll take a closer look at the size and entire Twin Cities population.
Twin Cities Population and Size
While technically the ‘Twin Cities’ are made up of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the entire metro area has many more cities than that!
There are 7 counties that make up the Twin Cities metro, with Minneapolis being in Hennepin County, and St. Paul in Ramsey.
There are almost 200 cities that help make up this entire metro area, meaning that there are lots of people here and lots of space to cover.
Nearly 6,000 square miles of land are covered in the Twin Cities area, stretching as far East as Minnetonka, and as far West as Lake Elmo.
Over 3 million people make up the Minneapolis St. Paul population, which is 60% of all of Minnesota’s population.
Some of the largest cities in the metro aside from Minneapolis and St. Paul are Roseville, Bloomington, Edina, Eagan, and Eden Prairie.
How Big Is Minneapolis Compared to Other Cities?
Minneapolis, Minnesota is a large city with almost half a million people calling it home, but when we compare it to other major cities, it might not seem so large!
As someone who’s lived in a Minneapolis suburb, I think that it’s a nice-sized city that isn’t too big but also isn’t too small.
When compared to other Midwestern cities, Minneapolis ranks number 8 in population, with Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Omaha ahead of it.
According to World Population Review, Minneapolis doesn’t even break the top 40 for largest cities in the United States.
It currently ranks number 46, with Oakland, California coming in at number 45, and Bakersfield, California at number 47.
New York City has the largest population in the country, with a whopping estimation of almost 8 million people living there.
Los Angeles follows behind at nearly 4 million, and Chicago comes in at number 3 with an estimated 2.5 million residents.
Is Minneapolis a Big City?
Yes, in my opinion, Minneapolis is a big city, and we can also look at the facts and see that this is true.
I’d personally say that any city that has over 100,000 people living in it is a major city, and Minneapolis breaks that number by over 4 times.
But, although it is a very large city with lots of people and plenty to do, Minneapolis still doesn’t have the crazy feeling that bigger cities like NYC and LA have.
You will have to deal with traffic, but it isn’t as crazy, and there are fewer people when you go out to do things.
One thing that, unfortunately, Minneapolis does deal with is a higher crime rate that makes many people worry if the city is safe or not.
Minneapolis Vs. St. Paul: Which is Bigger?
When people think of Minneapolis population, they often group together Minneapolis and St. Paul, since they’re together known as the Twin Cities.
So when people ask how big is Minneapolis, they may also be wondering about St. Paul!
St. Paul is the capital city of Minnesota, and has the second-largest population in the state of Minnesota, with a whopping estimation of around 307,000.
As for the physical size, it’s pretty comparable to Minneapolis, with around 56 square miles, as where Minneapolis is 57 square miles.
Together, the two cities have a combined population of around 730,000 people and over 100 square miles of land.
How Big is the Minneapolis Airport?
The Minneapolis Airport, officially named Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), is a fairly large airport since it’s in a major city.
The entire airport covers 3,400 acres and is the 16th busiest airport for passengers in the United States, according to MSP Airport.
It’s the second-largest hub for Delta Airlines and the hometown of Sun Country Airlines.
The airport isn’t massive, but there are two terminals and you must transport between them via Light Rail.
It’s definitely easy enough to navigate and has often been rated as one of the US’s best airports, according to Forbes, but you still should leave at least 2 hours to get around.
Security lines can get very long on busy travel days, and if you need to navigate between terminals, it can become a hassle.
FAQs
The population of Greater Minneapolis, otherwise known as the Twin Cities metro has a population of over 3 million people when combing Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the many suburbs.
No, the Minneapolis population is not larger than Chicago. These two cities are close together, but Chicago has about 2 million residents, whereas Minneapolis has only around 400,000. This is about 21% of the size of Chicago.
According to the Metropolitan Council, Minneapolis has been rapidly growing throughout the years. Between 2010 and 2020, the population grew by around 11%.
Minneapolis started because of its origin around Fort Snelling, which was one of the first places where the US military had a presence. Later, the city was well known for its flour milling, and has continued to grow since.
The Minnesota State Fair is massive, taking up over 320 acres and welcoming over 2 million visitors annually.
The population of Twin Cities region, when combining Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the many suburbs is around 3 million residents.
Certain parts of Minneapolis are walkable, in particular, Downtown Minneapolis. You won’t need a car in Downtown if you don’t have one, but for other areas of the Twin Cities, it is recommended to have a car for ease of getting around.
Wrap-Up: How Big is Minneapolis?
When visiting or moving to the city of Minneapolis, you may have found yourself asking, how big is Minneapolis?
As the largest city in the state of Minnesota and one of the largest in the Midwest, it’s easy to understand why so many people visit.
From iconic things like the Mall of America and professional sports teams to the serene lakes and parks that dot the city, there’s no shortage of things to see and do in Minneapolis.
