North Dakota Population Drops For First Time In 15 Years -- Bismarck Tribune -- December 22, 2017

It makes for an interesting headline, but it doesn't mean much -- at least not for me. LOL.

From the article:

For the first time in 15 years, North Dakota’s population has shrunk.

But the drop is not as sharp as in other states, and the figures should be put in context for interpretation, North Dakota’s census official said.

The state, which set population records during its oil boom, had a population decrease of 155 people from July 1, 2016 to July 1 according to estimates released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. That means it has about 755,400 people.

Minnesota saw a jump of 51,556 residents from 2016 to 2017.

I can't get too excited about the "loss" of 155 people over one year. I'm impressed such precise records can be kept.

From The StarTribune, September 2, 2016: Minnesota is among the top states for refugee resettlement.

Minnesota has resettled two dozen Syrian refugees in the past year and continues to be among the nation’s top states for exile resettlement, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. State Department.

President Obama last year unveiled a Syrian resettlement program to help with a global migration crisis sparked by the country’s civil war. The United States resettled its 10,000th Syrian refugee last week.

In Minnesota, 25 Syrian refugees made homes in the past year, landing mostly in Rochester and Minneapolis. The state also took in almost 1,100 Somalis, 166 Ethiopians and 66 Congolese — a large increase from last year through August.

And more;

All told, 2,335 refugees have settled in the state since last year — the most since 2007. Other trends include the arrival of a few refugees from El Salvador and an increase in the numbers of people coming from Iran and Iraq. Minnesota ranks 13th nationally for the number of refugees who call the state home.

Generally, one will see an increase in these new immigrant populations as immigrants from same countries from different parts of the US will flow to states where they are welcomed, as is occurring in Minnesota.

By the way, the immigration program is a huge money-maker for Christian ministries in the upper midwest as has been reported before on the blog.