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The economy of Minnesota produced 234 Billion dollars of Gross domestic product in 2005.<ref>Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State Retrieved November 13, 2006</ref> Minnesota headquartered 36 publicly-traded companies in the top 1000 U.S. companies by revenue in 2006.<ref name=cnnmoney>Fortune 500 2006. Our annual ranking of America's largest corporations. CNNMoney.com; Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-19.</ref> This includes such large companies as Target, UnitedHealth Group, and Best Buy. The Per capita personal income in 2004 was $36,184, 8^th in the nation.<ref>Bureau of Economic Analysis: Regional Economic Accounts Retrieved June 22, 2006.</ref> The median household income in 2005 was approximately $52,024, ranking eleventh in the nation.<ref>[1]</ref>

Contents 1 Income and retail 1.1 Industry and commerce 1.2 Minnesota's largest companies 2 Largest private companies 3 Largest public companies 3.1 Energy use and production 3.2 State taxes 4 References

[edit] Income and retail

Average household income per county averages range from $17,369 in Todd County to $42,313 in Hennepin County. In general, salaries are lowest in more rural areas, particularly in the northwest portion of the state.

Retail sales per capita were $10,260 in 1997, higher than the U.S. average of $9,190 (U.S. Census Bureau). The Twin Cities suburb of Roseville has the highest per capita sales, which recorded $14,870 per capita, but total revenues are much higher in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, and Edina.

[edit] Industry and commerce

Image:Washburn Crosby.jpg Minnesota's economy has transformed in the past 200 years from one based on raw materials to one based on finished products and services.

The earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture. Agriculture is still a major part of the economy even though only a small percentage of the population, less than 1% are employed in the farming industry.<ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US27&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP3&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-_lang=en&-_sse=on</ref>

Minnesota is the U.S.'s largest producer of sugar beets, sweet corn, and green peas for processing and farm-raised turkeys.<ref name=resources>[2]</ref> State agribusiness has changed from production to processing and the manufacturing of value-added food products by companies such as General Mills, Cargill (milling), Hormel Foods Corporation (prepackaged and processed meat products), and the Schwan Food Company (frozen foods).

Forestry, another early industry, remains strong with logging, pulpwood processing, forest products manufacturing and paper production.

Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore iron mines which produced a significant portion of the world's iron ore for over a century. Although the pure ore is now depleted, taconite mining remains strong using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2004 the state produced 75 percent of the usable iron ore in the country.<ref name=resources /> 3M (formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.), a company having its origins in mining, today is a diversified manufacturer of industrial and consumer products. The port of Duluth was created by the mining boom and today continues to be an important shipping port for the Midwest's agricultural products.

As might be expected in state with a love of the outdoors, boats and other recreational products are manufactured by a number of companies, including Polaris Industries (makers of snowmobiles and other off-road recreational vehicles), Arctic Cat (makers of snowmobiles), Alumacraft Boat Company, and Lund Boats.

Retail is represented by Target Corporation, Best Buy, and International Dairy Queen, all headquartered in the Twin Cities. The largest shopping mall in the United States, the Mall of America, is located in Bloomington. Ecolab provides sanitation services and supplies.

Financial institutions include U.S. Bancorp, TCF Bank, and Wells Fargo & Co.; insurers include St. Paul Travelers and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

An active high-technology sector is represented by Honeywell, Cray Computers, Imation, and a large IBM plant in Rochester. Medtronic and St. Jude Medical represent a growing biomedical industry spawned by university research, and Rochester is the headquarters of the world-famous Mayo Clinic. Seagate Technology develops its enterprise class storage products.

Today, the most salient characteristic of the economy is its diversity; the relative outputs of its business sectors closely match the United States as a whole.<ref>Environmental Information Report, App. D Socioeconomic Information (PDF) (2003-05-30). Retrieved on 2006-11-19.</ref>

[edit] Minnesota's largest companies

[edit] Largest private companies

Cargill, headquartered in Minnetonka employs 115,000 people worldwide and boasts annual revenues of $66.7 billion.<ref>The Largest Private Companies. Forbes (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-26.</ref>

[edit] Largest public companies

<ref name=cnnmoney/>

State Rank by Revenue	Company Name	National Rank	Revenue ($millions) 2006 est.(sic)*	Headquarters City	Known for
1	Target	29	52,620.0	Minneapolis	Retailing
2	UnitedHealth Group	37	45,365.0	Minnetonka	Managed Health Care
3	Best Buy	76	27,433.0	Richfield	Retailing
4	St. Paul Travelers	85	24,365.0	St. Paul	P & C, Professional Liability Insurance
5	3M	101	21,167.0	Maplewood	Diversified manufacturing
6	Supervalu	113	19,543.2	Eden Prairie	Food Distribution
7	U.S. Bancorp	131	16,596.0	Minneapolis	Banking and financial services
8	Northwest Airlines	182	12,286.0	Eagan	Airline
9	CHS, Inc.	188	11,984.6	Inver Grove Heights	Fuel Distribution
10	General Mills	206	11,244.0	Golden Valley	Food Processing
11	Medtronic	235	10,054.6	Fridley	Medical Devices
12	Xcel Energy	247	9,695.3	Minneapolis	Electricity Production and Distribution
13	Land O'Lakes	301	7,567.4	Arden Hills	Dairy Products
14	Thrivent Financial for Lutherans	352	6,189.5	Minneapolis	Financial Products
15	C.H. Robinson Worldwide	379	5,688.9	Eden Prairie	Logistic Services
16	Hormel Foods	401	5,414.0	Austin	Meat Processing
17	Nash Finch	457	4,555.5	Edina	Food Distribution
18	Ecolab	459	4,534.8	St. Paul	Sanitation Supplier
19	Mosaic	470	4,396.7	Plymouth	Fertilizer Manufacturer
20	PepsiAmericas	520	3,726.0	Minneapolis	Bottling
21	Bemis	545	3,474.0	Minneapolis	Flexible Packaging
22	Pentair	626	2,946.6	Golden Valley	Water Treatment
23	St. Jude Medical	628	2,915.3	St. Paul	Medical Devices
24	Alliant Techsystems	638	2,801.1	Edina	Defense Contractor
25	Valspar	648	2,714.0	Minneapolis	Paint and Coatings
26	Patterson	707	2,421.5	St. Paul	Dental and Veterinarian Supplies
27	Minnesota Life	748	2,268.5	St. Paul	Life Insurance
28	Regis	759	2,194.3	Edina	Hair Salons
29	Polaris Industries	843	1,873.7	Roseau	Snowmobiles and recreational motorsports
30	Toro	864	1,779.4	Bloomington	Lawnmowers and power lawn tools
31	Deluxe	873	1,749.5	Shoreview	Check Printing
32	Donaldson	931	1,595.7	Minneapolis	Filtration Products
33	Fastenal	959	1,523.3	Winona	Fastener Manufacturer
34	H.B. Fuller	965	1,512.2	Vadnais Heights	Adhesive Manufacturer
35	Federated Mutual Insurance	970	1,499.7	Owatonna	P & C, Health, and Life Insurance
36	Ceridian	986	1,459.0	Minneapolis	Payroll, benefits, and HR services

^*The revenues stated are in $1000.

[edit] Energy use and production

See also: Common ethanol fuel mixtures

Ethanol fuel is produced in the state, and a 10% mix of ethanol (E10) into consumer gasoline has been mandated since 1997. As of 2006, Minnesota is the only U.S. state with such a mandate. 20% ethanol (E20) will be mandated in 2013. Minnesota boasts more fuel stations offering E85 fuel, with 300 statewide.<ref>Minnesota Commerce : E85 Fuel Station List Retrieved October 19, 2006</ref> A 2% biodiesel blend has also been required in diesel fuel since 2005. Electricity-producing wind turbines have become popular, particularly in the windy southwest region. As of October 2006, the state is the country's fourth-largest wind energy producer, with 794 megawatts installed and an additional 82 MW planned.<ref>Wind Energy Projects Throughout the United States of America Retrieved June 22, 2006.</ref>

Like other Midwestern states that experience cold winters, Minnesota is heavily dependent on natural gas for home heating. Just over two-thirds of homes use the fuel. The state does not produce any petroleum of its own but boasts the largest oil refinery of any non-oil-producing state, the Pine Bend Refinery. One of the longest pipelines in the world, the Lakehead Pipeline, traverses northern Minnesota. Most of the petroleum used in the state comes from Canada and the northwestern United States.

[edit] State taxes

Minnesota has three brackets of state income tax rates, 5.35%, 7.05% and 7.85%.<ref>Minnesota income tax rates for 2005/2006 Retrieved October 17, 2006.</ref> The sales tax in Minnesota for most items is 6.5%. The state does not charge sales tax on clothing, some services, or food items for home consumption.<ref>Sales tax fact sheets Retrieved June 22, 2006.</ref> It does tax prepared food, candy and soft drinks.<ref>Minnesota Statute § 297A.61, subd. 33 Retrieved September 6, 2006.</ref> The state also imposes a use tax on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. Minnesota property owners pay property tax to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts. Three factors that affect the tax bill are the amount the local governments spend to provide services to the community, the estimated market value of the property, and the classification of the property.

[edit] References