Is Ramsey County the most diverse county in Minnesota?

No.

Ramsey County, home to Minnesota’s capital city of St. Paul, is not the most diverse county in Minnesota, although it ranks high in the metric.

Demographic research generally places Mahnomen County as the most racially diverse in Minnesota. In that county, located entirely within the White Earth Indian Reservation, about 55.6% of the residents are Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or other people of color.

In comparison, Ramsey County is the third-most diverse by percentage, behind Mahnomen and Nobles counties. About 42% of its residents are Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or other people or color.  

Using another measure, the “diversity index,” the county ranks second behind Mahnomen County. That measure calculates the chance of two residents chosen at random being from different racial or ethnic groups, with Ramsey County’s index being 61.4%

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Sources

• Center for Rural Policy and Development The State of Rural 2026
• Ramsey County Changing Workplaces: Five Trends to Watch in 2025
• Minnesota Compass Diversity Index

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