Rural counties outpace urban areas in wealth growth — but both face critical window for ensuring assets stay within local communities
Minnesota’s rural communities are aging. As the baby boomer generation enters retirement, the state stands at the cusp of one of the largest — if not the largest — generational wealth transfers in Minnesota history.
But while the farms, businesses, homes, and savings of rural communities will soon change hands, recipients of this wealth transfer may not live in the local community. To address this issue, University of Minnesota Extension examined how much wealth exists in Minnesota’s communities, and what might happen to it as the baby boomer generation passes on.
Minnesota gained $900 billion in wealth in just three years
Between 2021 and 2024, total wealth in Minnesota grew by 38%, rising from $2.2 trillion to $3.1 trillion. A period shaped by pandemic recovery, rising inflation, competitive housing markets, and strong market gains, this accounts for nearly $900 billion in new wealth created in just three years.
Figure 1. Total Wealth by County Group, 2021 vs 2024
Rural counties are growing wealth faster than metro areas
While metropolitan areas capture a majority of statewide wealth, growth in wealth is fastest in rural and nonmetropolitan communities. Between 2021 and 2024, nonmetropolitan counties grew their wealth at nearly twice the rate of most metropolitan areas. At the same time, the share of statewide wealth held by the most metropolitan counties declined from 73% to 68% during the same three-year period.
Conversely, the share of statewide wealth held by all other county groups — including rural and nonmetropolitan counties — saw its share increase, reinforcing the trend that wealth is becoming less concentrated in Minnesota’s urban core.
Figure 2. Share of Statewide Wealth by County Group, 2021 vs 2024
Wealth built in Minnesota could leave the state
While the growth in wealth in Minnesota is encouraging, it also raises urgent questions. As the baby boomer generation ages, communities have a narrow window to ensure this wealth stays connected to the places that created it. When a rural homeowner, farmer, or business owner passes on, their assets may go to children or grandchildren who no longer reside in the same community or state.
Without intentional community succession planning, that wealth may simply leave the community. The data are a starting point for these conversations. It is up to the community to identify strategies for leveraging this wealth in ways that meet goals of the community.
About the Transfer of Wealth project
The University of Minnesota Extension’s Transfer of Wealth project helps Minnesota communities understand and prepare for a shift in assets. The project equips local foundations, nonprofits, and community leaders with county level wealth data and research tools to understand the scale of wealth in their area and spark informed local conversations to help build philanthropic strategies that could keep a portion of that wealth invested locally.
For the full technical report see The Transfer of Wealth Opportunity: State of Minnesota.
Winchester, Benjamin; Opatz, Aiden. (2025). Minnesota Transfer of Wealth: Changes in Individual Wealth 2021-2024. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy.
