Counties: Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright.

Key Cities: Buffalo, Cambridge, Elk River, Monticello, Mora, North Branch, Princeton, St. Cloud, Sauk Centre, Taylors Falls.

Report Highlights:

Central Minnesota fell in the middle of almost all of the indicators in this study. It fell fourth of the six regions in most of the economic indicators such as artistic expenditures, jobs created, household income generated, and state government revenue. In local government revenue, it came in second. It also falls in the center of percentage of artists who work full-time at their art (19 percent), in the percentage of their income that comes from artistic work (21 percent), and average artistic income for full-time artists ($6,046). Unfortunately, it lead the state in the percentage of artists who are paying for their own health care (39 percent of respondents), and who have no retirement plans (39 percent of respondents). Interestingly, this area’s artists also had the highest percentage of artists volunteering in their communities over 20 hours per week, and an unbelievable 91 percent of respondents who report that they “always” vote.
Central Minnesota is home to 1,846 individual artists. Artistic spending by these artists totaled $16.8 million during 2005. $12.1 million of those expenditures (72 percent) were made to merchants and businesses located within the state of Minnesota, and therefore have an impact on Minnesota’s economy. This spending supported 448 jobs, generated $8.9M in resident household income and $1.5M in state and local government revenue The average artistic expenditures of Central Minnesota’s individual artists (full-time, part-time and hobbyist) during 2005 were $9,083 per artist compared to the state average of $13,572. Median artist income for full-time artists in this area was $11,588, compared to the state median of $21,841.

Area’s 2005 population: 531,085
Area’s percentage of state’s population: 10.3%
Area’s percentage of the state’s artists: 9.3%
Number of artists surveyed in this area: 1846

We would be happy to give presentations about the results of this study to any group. Just call MCA at 651-251-0868 to schedule a presentation.

Where Are Central Minnesota’s Artists?