How Much of Minnesota Lives Near Saint Paul? 80.3%, According to the ZIP-Code Data

By SimpleMapLab·Published 13 May 2026·Rank #14 of 50 states·↑ All 50 states

80.3% of Minnesota’s population — roughly 4.62 M of the state’s 5.75 M residents — lives within 100 miles of Saint Paul. Minnesota ranks #14 of 50 states for capital-to-population centrality.

A 100-mile geodesic radius around the Saint Paul, MN state capitol overlaid on Minnesota. 80.3% of Minnesota's population lives inside the dashed ring.

80.3%

of Minnesota’s population within 100 miles of Saint Paul

4.62 M

residents inside the radius (of 5.75 M statewide)

28 mi

from Saint Paul to Minnesota’s population centroid

#14

of 50 states ranked by capital-to-population centrality

Open this radius in the map → /tools/map-radius-tool · Saint Paul, MN · 100 mi
The link opens the SimpleMapLab Map Radius Tool with the 100-mile circle already drawn around the Saint Paul capitol. Change the radius to 50, 250, or any value to compare different framings.

Why this happened

Minnesota's capital is centrally located but not perfectly placed. Saint Paul's 100-mile circle captures roughly two-thirds to four-fifths of the state's residents — including Minneapolis (the largest city inside, ~1.13 million). The notable exception: Duluth, sitting 160 miles from the capital. The capital itself sits 28 miles from Minnesota's population centroid — a moderate but not extreme offset.

The biggest cities inside the 100-mile radius

The top 5 most-populous places (by aggregated ZIP code population) sitting inside the 100-mile circle around Saint Paul. Cities are listed by total population captured by ZIP centroids in the dataset.

#	City	Population in radius
1	Minneapolis	1,131,590
2	Saint Paul	817,948
3	Rochester	135,035
4	Saint Cloud	78,880
5	Mankato	66,843

The largest city outside the radius

Minnesota’s most-populous city outside the 100-mile circle is Duluth, sitting 160 miles from Saint Paul. The aggregated population of Duluth’s ZIP codes alone — 118,976 residents — illustrates the gap between Minnesota’s political seat and its population centre.

How Minnesota compares

The states ranked closest to Minnesota on this metric. Click any to compare the radius breakdown directly.

#13 Nebraska

Lincoln · 81.5% pop. captured

#15 Virginia

Richmond · 78.8% pop. captured

#12 Colorado

Denver · 86.2% pop. captured

#16 Hawaii

Honolulu · 77.9% pop. captured

#11 Michigan

Lansing · 88.0% pop. captured

Draw it yourself

Open the 100-mile circle around Saint Paul →

The Map Radius Tool lets you change the radius (try 50 mi for an urban-suburban question or 250 mi for “a day’s drive”), drag the centre to compare Saint Paul’s reach with that of Minneapolis, or add a second circle for a side-by-side comparison.

Methodology (brief)

We took the lat/lng of the Minnesota state capitol building (44.9537°, -93.0900°) and drew a 100-mile geodesic radius. For every ZIP code in Minnesota, we tested whether the ZIP centroid falls inside; if so, its population counts. We then divide by Minnesota’s total population to produce the percentage. The full methodology for all 50 states is on the hub page.

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). 100 Miles Around Saint Paul: How Much of Minnesota Is Inside? Part of the State Capital Radius study. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/studies/state-capital-radius/minnesota. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0.