Demographic & Workforce Statistics
The Greater Mankato region includes Blue Earth and Nicollet counties (Mankato-North Mankato MSA). While the MSA itself has a population of 103,566 as of the 2020 census, the regional draw of Greater Mankato is much larger. As a regional center, Greater Mankato is the hub for 287,175 people.
Due to its strong pull as a retail and healthcare destination, Greater Mankato has an equally strong pull as an employment hub. Employers in our region report that their employees come from communities up to a 45-minute drive-time away. Within that drive-time, there are 156,758 people ages 16 and older. People in this labor force are hard-working, with a 2021 participation rate of 68.2%, which is 6.5 percentage points higher than the national average.