2026 State of Working Minnesota

Executive Summary Thousands of Minnesotans earn a living driving for rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. This analysis measures this workforce’s contribution to Minnesota's economy today. Using conservative assumptions, we find that each year, Minnesota's...

Minnesota just released its 2027 premium rates for health insurance on the individual and small group markets, and the news isn't good. Average premiums are rising by 9.9% to 21.1% for the roughly 203,000 Minnesotans who buy coverage on the individual market and by...

In past analyses, North Star Policy Action has examined changes in school funding in Minnesota. We showed how state aid to schools declined steeply from 2003 to 2023, before landmark legislation helped to address the gap. The result was state aid in 2024 coming closer...

Introduction Standardized tests have become a central way of measuring student performance in America, with substantial media and political attention focused on the results to evaluate how well our kids are learning. While tests can provide insight into student...

Executive Summary At the end of April, the federal government effectively halted the development of more than 250 onshore wind energy projects across the United States by failing to complete routine national security reviews. These projects, capable of producing 30...

Introduction Affordability seems to be the topic on everyone’s mind in 2026. A majority of Minnesotans now say affordability should be the top priority for elected officials, and it’s easy to see why: the cost of basics, including housing, food, child care,...

By Aaron Rosenthal, North Star Policy Action and Aaron Sojourner, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Policy Research Introduction Reporting on Operation Metro Surge (OMS) in Minnesota has focused on economic harm to several industries with large immigrant worker populations,...