Rochester Facts 2011

ROCHESTER FACTS 2011

1. The 2010 Census population for Rochester is 106,769. Rochester is the third largest and fastest growing city in Minnesota. Our population has increased by 21,000 since 2000; our growth since 2000 is roughly equivalent to the total population of cities like Northfield, Albert Lea, or Golden Valley and a third larger than the total population of Red Wing.  Our growth since 1990 is over 36,000, more than the populations of cities like Richfield, Cottage Grove, Inver Grove Heights, and Winona and 3,000 shy of the total population of Mankato,
2. The minority population in Rochester was 2.6% in 1980, and is 21% in the 2010 Census, at 22,161.
3. In the 2009-10 school year, over 32% of the students in Rochester public schools qualified for lunch subsidies (based on income at or near poverty). Rochester is fifth highest in the number of eligible students among all districts in Minnesota. Of the 37 school systems with over 5,000 students, Rochester is 15^th highest in the percentage of students eligible for subsidized lunch.
4. Rochester has attracted a significant immigrant and refugee population. According to 2009 ACS data, 11.3% of the residents of Rochester were born outside the U.S. In the 2009-10 school year, 22% of Rochester public school students spoke a language other than English in the home. At 13% of students with limited English proficiency, Rochester is fifth highest among school districts with over 5,000 students in the proportion of students with limited English proficiency. Rochester has the fourth highest number of students with limited English proficiency among all districts in the state.
5. In 2009, 20% of the jobs in Rochester’s businesses had average weekly wages equivalent to less than $15 per hour and 13% had average weekly wages less than $11 per hour. Average weekly wages in low wage occupations (hospitality and retail trade) have declined 10%, adjusted for inflation, since 2000.
6. Rochester is the primary destination of workers from an area of roughly 2,300 square miles in Southeastern Minnesota.  Based on Bureau of Economic Analysis, Census, and Minnesota DEED data, as of 2009, over 40,000 wage and salary workers commute to Rochester for work, with 62%  of commuters commuting from outside Olmsted County.
7. From 2000 to 2009, while private sector nonfarm wage and salary employment in Minnesota declined 2.8%, Rochester’s private sector employment grew 6.7%. This amounts to over 4,500 new wage and salary jobs since 2000. Including all private sector workers and government workers, and including proprietors and self-employed workers (estimated from Bureau of Economic Analysis county-level data), around 103,000 jobs are located in Rochester.

Data From Census