The Minneapolis-St.Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area comprises thirteen counties and 2,968,805 people in both Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin. However, the traditional area comprises the seven-county region in Minnesota surrounding the Twin Cities. Below is a picture of this area - including the counties in Wisconsin.
The City of Minneapolis fits the classic Concentric Zone Model of development with a Central Business District and an older central city area. From there, typical socio-economic patterns eminateoutward toward the suburbs and the hinterlands. Most of the area's minority population is found within the central city zone. Hennepin County alone (containing Minneapolis) accounts for 41.9% of the state's combined minority population. However, other counties in Minnesota actually have more minorites per average population.
