Greater Mankato Growth recently completed the 2018 Economic Report. The report makes three comparisons of the Mankato-North Mankato metropolitan area to similar metropolitan areas in terms of population, geography, and concentration of the college-age population.
This blog post dives into the similar population size comparison.
To identify metropolitan areas of similar size, we looked at the most current estimates from the U.S Census Bureau: 2017. We pulled population figures for all of the MSAs going back to 2010. Next, we identified the 10 MSAs just above and below the 2017 Mankato-North Mankato population estimate of 100,939. Those MSAs included:
| MSA | 2017 Population |
| Sumter, SC Metro Area | 106,847 |
| Decatur, IL Metro Area | 105,801 |
| Ithaca, NY Metro Area | 104,802 |
| Bay City, MI Metro Area | 104,239 |
| Lima, OH Metro Area | 103,198 |
| Sebring, FL Metro Area | 102,883 |
| Gadsden, AL Metro Area | 102,755 |
| Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area | 102,548 |
| Grand Forks, ND-MN Metro Area | 102,414 |
| Gettysburg, PA Metro Area | 102,336 |
| Mankato-North Mankato, MN Metro Area | 100,939 |
| Fairbanks, AK Metro Area | 99,703 |
| Victoria, TX Metro Area | 99,646 |
| Cumberland, MD-WV Metro Area | 98,837 |
| Hot Springs, AR Metro Area | 98,658 |
| Cheyenne, WY Metro Area | 98,327 |
| Manhattan, KS Metro Area | 98,080 |
| Rome, GA Metro Area | 97,613 |
| Ames, IA Metro Area | 97,502 |
| Dubuque, IA Metro Area | 97,041 |
| Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area | 96,782 |
We then calculated each MSA’s growth rate over the last year and since 2010. Mankato-North Mankato ranked 2nd in growth over the last year and 6th since 2010.
| MSA | 2016-2017 Growth % | 2010-2017 Growth % |
| Ames, IA Metro Area | 0.71% | 8.79% |
| Cheyenne, WY Metro Area | 0.37% | 6.62% |
| Victoria, TX Metro Area | -0.25% | 5.89% |
| Manhattan, KS Metro Area | -0.06% | 5.13% |
| Sebring, FL Metro Area | 1.30% | 4.31% |
| Mankato-North Mankato, MN Metro Area | 1.04% | 4.23% |
| Grand Forks, ND-MN Metro Area | 0.18% | 3.88% |
| Dubuque, IA Metro Area | 0.35% | 3.31% |
| Ithaca, NY Metro Area | 0.23% | 2.99% |
| Hot Springs, AR Metro Area | 0.43% | 2.69% |
| Fairbanks, AK Metro Area | -0.89% | 1.45% |
| Rome, GA Metro Area | 1.03% | 1.23% |
| Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area | 0.33% | 0.95% |
| Gettysburg, PA Metro Area | 0.64% | 0.86% |
| Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area | -0.31% | 0.35% |
| Sumter, SC Metro Area | -0.41% | -0.69% |
| Gadsden, AL Metro Area | 0.03% | -1.63% |
| Lima, OH Metro Area | -0.41% | -2.98% |
| Bay City, MI Metro Area | -0.23% | -3.19% |
| Cumberland, MD-WV Metro Area | -0.68% | -4.19% |
| Decatur, IL Metro Area | -0.80% | -4.49% |
After review of the population figures, we analyzed this set of MSA’s in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Household Income, and Job Growth.
GDP: As of 2016, Mankato-North Mankato has the second highest GDP (4.871 billion) among MSAs of similar population size. It has the highest growth for both the last reported year (2015-2016) and from 2010-2016.
| MSA | 2016 GDP (in Millions) | 2015-2016 Growth % | 2010-2016 Growth % |
| Mankato-North Mankato, MN (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4871 | 3.75% | 25.19% |
| Ames, IA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4358 | 1.25% | 17.56% |
| Grand Forks, ND-MN (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4612 | 3.08% | 14.38% |
| Dubuque, IA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4827 | -1.25% | 10.99% |
| Fond du Lac, WI (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4183 | 0.99% | 10.25% |
| Sumter, SC (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 3249 | -0.61% | 7.30% |
| Victoria, TX (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4330 | -10.18% | 6.05% |
| Gettysburg, PA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 2828 | 2.87% | 5.72% |
| Manhattan, KS (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 3119 | 0.55% | 4.95% |
| Rome, GA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 3362 | 1.36% | 4.25% |
| Cape Girardeau, MO-IL (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 3687 | -0.05% | 2.64% |
| Cheyenne, WY (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4689 | -0.93% | 1.10% |
| Ithaca, NY (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4341 | -0.44% | -0.12% |
| Gadsden, AL (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 2582 | 2.79% | -1.11% |
| Cumberland, MD-WV (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 2797 | 0.65% | -2.31% |
| Hot Springs, AR (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 2700 | -1.75% | -3.54% |
| Sebring, FL (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 1783 | 2.29% | -3.73% |
| Bay City, MI (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 2869 | -0.45% | -4.78% |
| Fairbanks, AK (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4684 | -1.53% | -5.12% |
| Decatur, IL (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 5289 | -3.73% | -5.52% |
| Lima, OH (Metropolitan Statistical Area) | 4648 | 0.30% | -6.06% |
Household Income: Mankato-North Mankato had the 6th highest Median and Mean household income in 2016. It was exactly middle of the pack for growth in both Median and Mean household income from 2015 to 2016.
| MSA | 2016 Median Household Income | 2016 Mean Household Income | 2015-2016 Median Household Income Growth | 2015-2016 Mean Household Income Growth |
| Fairbanks, AK Metro Area | $71,068 | $86,453 | 3.89% | 3.99% |
| Ithaca, NY Metro Area | $52,624 | $74,288 | 2.87% | 1.70% |
| Cheyenne, WY Metro Area | $60,706 | $74,184 | 0.82% | 1.30% |
| Gettysburg, PA Metro Area | $60,356 | $72,982 | 2.60% | 1.81% |
| Victoria, TX Metro Area | $51,700 | $69,864 | 5.75% | 6.45% |
| Mankato-North Mankato, MN | $53,437 | $68,503 | 3.11% | 2.45% |
| Grand Forks, ND-MN Metro Area | $50,366 | $67,875 | 1.91% | 1.03% |
| Dubuque, IA Metro Area | $54,605 | $67,186 | 2.84% | 5.49% |
| Fond du Lac, WI Metro Area | $55,473 | $67,064 | 1.63% | 2.09% |
| Ames, IA Metro Area | $50,438 | $64,861 | 1.51% | 2.18% |
| Manhattan, KS Metro Area | $48,158 | $64,175 | 4.05% | 4.28% |
| Decatur, AL Metro Area | $44,403 | $58,823 | 3.16% | 0.35% |
| Bay City, MI Metro Area | $45,583 | $58,140 | 0.59% | 0.73% |
| Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area | $43,034 | $58,070 | 6.26% | 4.80% |
| Lima, OH Metro Area | $44,103 | $57,759 | 3.34% | 2.51% |
| Hot Springs, AR Metro Area | $38,733 | $56,414 | 3.30% | 2.14% |
| Rome, GA Metro Area | $41,549 | $56,222 | 3.38% | 4.50% |
| Sumter, SC Metro Area | $41,332 | $53,496 | -1.34% | -0.13% |
| Cumberland, MD-WV Metro Area | $38,140 | $51,300 | 5.67% | 2.48% |
| Gadsden, AL Metro Area | $39,220 | $51,264 | 3.21% | 3.20% |
| Sebring, FL Metro Area | $35,093 | $48,516 | 2.20% | 3.45% |
Job Growth: Mankato-North Mankato had the 5th highest job growth in both April and May of 2018 among MSAs of a similar size population. As of May 2018, Mankato-North Mankato had the 3rd highest number of jobs.
| MSA | May 2018 Jobs (in thousands) | April 2017-2018 % Growth | May 2017-2018 % Growth |
| Ithaca | 67.3 | 2.57% | 2.75% |
| Dubuque | 60.5 | -0.50% | -0.33% |
| Mankato-North Mankato | 59.0 | 1.90% | 2.25% |
| Grand Forks | 57.3 | -1.23% | 1.06% |
| Ames | 54.1 | 2.20% | 2.27% |
| Lima | 53.6 | -0.37% | -0.74% |
| Decatur | 51.8 | 0.59% | 0.97% |
| Fond du Lac | 48.8 | 1.05% | 1.67% |
| Cheyenne | 46.7 | 0.43% | 0.00% |
| Cape Girardeau | 45.5 | 2.48% | 2.48% |
| Manhattan | 42.4 | 0.92% | -0.24% |
| Rome | 41.6 | 0.97% | 1.96% |
| Victoria | 40.5 | -2.42% | -2.41% |
| Cumberland | 40.0 | 0.77% | 1.27% |
| Sumter | 39.9 | 1.53% | 1.79% |
| Hot Springs | 38.6 | 0.00% | 1.05% |
| Fairbanks | 38.6 | -1.61% | -0.26% |
| Gadsden | 38.5 | 1.59% | 0.52% |
| Gettysburg | 36.2 | 2.56% | 2.26% |
| Bay City | 35.5 | 0.00% | 0.57% |
| Sebring | 25.7 | -1.52% | -2.28% |
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