How does Minnesota Stack Up? Newly Released Data on Evictions

In 2017, MHP and Alliance Housing hosted Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, in Minneapolis. In his presentation and panel discussion, Desmond revealed the impact of this often overlooked housing crisis on families and communities. This month, Desmond and his team of researchers released an unprecedented tool and data resource, the Eviction Lab.

Nationally, 898,479 evictions took place in 2016, with a rate of 2.34 evictions occurring per 100 renter households. Eviction rates are currently highest in the Southeast of the US, ranking highest in the states of South Carolina (8.87%), Virginia (5.12%), Delaware (5.1%), Georgia (4.17%), North Carolina (4.61%). Minnesota ranks 44th for national eviction rate.

According to the Evictions Lab data, 10 evictions took place every day in Minnesota in 2016 — representing an eviction rate of .59 per 100 renter homes. From 2000 to 2016, evictions peaked in 2004 (11,272) and 2007 (10,686), and have fallen dramatically in recent years to 3,377 in 2016. And not all eviction filings lead to households being forced to vacate their homes; in 2016, approximately 25% of filings saw actual evictions a rate that has fallen from 56% in 2007.

 

 

In Minnesota, Anoka County has the highest filing rate (3.77 of all households) of the 87 counties, with an actual eviction rate at .64, or 156 evictions in the year of 2016. At the opposite side of the spectrum are Kittson and Lake of the Woods counties, who saw 0 evictions filed or occuring in 2016. Not surprisingly, Hennepin and Ramsey, who have large renting populations, top the list for number of total evictions, at 1,373 for Hennepin in 2016 and 489 in Ramsey.

Compared to Wisconsin, Minnesota has a much lower number and rate of evictions. Wisconsin is estimated to have 41 evictions per day, at a rate of nearly 2%.Though the two states are similar in the number and demographics of residents, the number of eviction filings in Wisconsin is double Minnesota’s. Minnesota’s eviction rate has fallen 60% since 2000, whereas Wisconsin’s has fallen only by 10%.

Top Ten Cities by Number of Evictions in Minnesota, 2016

  City County Population Poverty Rate Percent White Number of Evictions
1 Minneapolis Hennepin 399950 15% 60% 759
2 St. Paul Ramsey 295043 17% 54% 368
3 Brooklyn Park Hennepin 78195 9% 48% 146
4 Duluth St. Louis 86178 12% 89% 95
5 Moorhead Clay 40935 9% 88% 83
6 Rochester Olmsted 110275 6% 78% 75
7 Bloomington Hennepin 85826 5% 75% 63
8 Burnsville Dakota 61255 8% 72% 60
9 Brooklyn Center Hennepin 30684 17% 42% 58
10 St. Cloud Stearns 66298 14% 82% 57

 

Top Ten Cities by Eviction Rate in 2016, for Cities with Populations Greater than 5,000

 

City

 County Population Poverty Rate Percent White Eviction Rate
1 Lake Elmo Washington 8199 4% 96% 3%
2 East Bethel Anoka 11625 3% 98% 3%
3 Brooklyn Park Hennepin 78195 9% 48% 2%
4 Oak Grove Anoka 8215 2% 89% 2%
5 Brooklyn Center Hennepin 30684 17% 42% 1%
6 Big Lake Sherburne 10285 7% 87% 1%
7 Moorhead Clay 40935 9% 88% 1%
8 Zimmerman Sherburne 5280 7% 98% 1%
9 Ramsey Anoka 24846 2% 90% 1%
10 Wyoming Chisago 7755 0% 93% 1%

 

 Top Ten Counties by Eviction Rate

  County Population Poverty Rate Percent White Eviction Rate
1 Kanabec County 16003 11% 95% 2%
2 Mille Lacs County 25809 9% 90% 1%
3 Clay County 60879 7% 90% 1%
4 Mahnomen County 5496 19% 48% 1%
5 Sherburne County 90401 6% 92% 1%
6 Cass County 28519 13% 84% 1%
7 Le Sueur County 27707 5% 92% 1%
8 Norman County 6692 8% 90% 1%
9 Beltrami County 45434 13% 73% 1%
10 Mower County 39227 9% 82% 1%

 

Stay tuned for the Eviction Lab’s soon-to-be released “Top Evictors”.