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Nearly 31,500 jobs at 1,765 employer establishments
5/20/2025 10:57:58 AM
Amanda Blaschko, Luke Greiner
With nearly 31,500 jobs at 1,765 employer establishments, Health Care & Social Assistance is the largest employing industry in the 23-county Southwest Minnesota planning region. At that level, Health Care & Social Assistance accounted for 18.2% of total employment, identical to the statewide share. That means one in every 5.5 jobs in both the region and state are in Health Care & Social Assistance, highlighting the importance of the industry to the overall economy.
Employment concentrations vary greatly across Southwest Minnesota, with the highest share found in Region 6W at 20.4%, followed by 18.8% in Region 9, while Manufacturing had slightly more jobs in Region 8, making Health Care & Social Assistance the second largest industry in the region. Health Care & Social Assistance added just over 1,500 net new jobs in the past year, growing 5.0% from 2023 to 2024. That rate outpaced statewide job growth, again showing the critical contribution the Health Care industry makes to the region.
Home to Mankato, Blue Earth County had the largest number of Health Care & Social Assistance jobs in the region at 9,625 jobs, followed by Lyon County with around 2,500 jobs and Brown County with 2,100 jobs. Blue Earth County also had the highest share of total employment in Health Care, at 23.3%, followed by Lac qui Parle County at 21.0% and Rock County at 20.2%. Employment data was not available for some counties in the region, and some had only government data published. Over half of the counties in the region showed a gain in jobs over the past year (Table 1).
| Table 1. Health Care & Social Assistance Employment, 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region/County | Number of Establishments | Number of Jobs | Avg. Annual Wage | Percent of Total Employment | Change in Jobs, 2023-2024 |
| Region 6W | 159 | 3,372 | $52,962 | 20.4% | +2.7% |
| Big Stone Co.* | 1 | 262 | $52,676 | 15.5% | +0.8% |
| Chippewa Co.* | 3 | 425 | $71,084 | 8.0% | +2.9% |
| Lac qui Parle Co. | 19 | 458 | $52,520 | 21.0% | +3.2% |
| Swift Co.* | 1 | 199 | $47,528 | 5.3% | +13.7% |
| Yellow Medicine Co.* | 1 | 55 | $40,404 | 1.5% | +1.9% |
| Region 8 | 513 | 8,552 | $49,608 | 16.4% | +3.7% |
| Cottonwood Co.* | 1 | 97 | $60,736 | 2.0% | -2.0% |
| Jackson Co. | N/D | N/D | N/D | N/D | N/D |
| Lincoln Co. | N/D | N/D | N/D | N/D | N/D |
| Lyon Co. | 116 | 2,479 | $53,300 | 18.0% | +5.0% |
| Murray Co.* | 1 | 124 | $61,932 | 4.3% | +3.3% |
| Nobles Co. | 68 | 970 | $55,224 | 9.9% | -9.1% |
| Pipestone Co.* | 1 | 194 | $67,236 | 4.5% | -0.5% |
| Redwood Co.* | 1 | 43 | $30,628 | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| Rock Co. | 34 | 746 | $55,536 | 20.2% | +2.1% |
| Region 9 | 1,094 | 19,579 | $57,564 | 18.8% | +6.3% |
| Blue Earth Co. | 356 | 9,625 | $61,776 | 23.3% | +7.0% |
| Brown Co. | 111 | 2,101 | $58,396 | 15.9% | -1.2% |
| Faribault Co. | N/D | N/D | N/D | N/D | N/D |
| Le Sueur Co. | 101 | 676 | $36,400 | 7.8% | -16.4% |
| Martin Co. | 111 | 1,350 | $48,464 | 16.4% | +4.3% |
| Nicollet Co.* | 3 | 1,671 | $83,408 | 11.4% | +35.9% |
| Sibley Co. | 38 | 238 | $34,632 | 6.1% | -4.0% |
| Waseca Co. | 84 | 1,028 | $43,420 | 18.6% | +3.1% |
| Watonwan Co. | 33 | 421 | $60,684 | 9.3% | -0.8% |
| Southwest Region | 1,765 | 31,456 | $54,912 | 18.2% | +5.0% |
| State of Minnesota | 25,901 | 532,896 | $66,976 | 18.2% | +4.1% |
| *Government employment only Source: DEED Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages |
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Even with all the job growth, newly released Job Vacancy Survey data shows there were 2,225 job vacancies in Health Care & Social Assistance in 2024, which was the largest number of any industry in the region. It was also up by more than 500 additional job vacancies compared to 2023, showing increasing demand as the industry continues to expand. The median wage offer was $20.11 per hour, which was about $0.60 above the median wage offer across all industries.
At the occupational level, over 1,700 of the vacancies were for Healthcare Practitioners & Technical occupations and Healthcare Support occupations. The highest demand was for Nursing Assistants, which had just over 600 vacancies in 2024. That was more than three times as many vacancies as reported in 2023, and the second highest number ever recorded in the region. Ninety percent of these openings could be started with a high school diploma or less, but 85% required a certificate or license.
One hundred percent of the just under 150 openings for Registered Nurses (RNs) in the region required postsecondary education, with a median wage offer of almost $35 per hour. Though the number of RN vacancies was down by about 100 compared to 2023, the wage offer was up by $2 per hour, suggesting demand remains high. There were also about 110 vacancies for Licensed Practical Nurses, with a median wage offer of $26.24 per hour.
Other healthcare occupations in demand include:
Contact Amanda Blaschko at amanda.blaschko@state.mn.us or Luke Greiner at luke.greiner@state.mn.us.
If you’d like to find out more about Health Care & Social Assistance career opportunities in Minnesota or if you are an employer looking to hire workers, contact staff at a CareerForce location near you.
