Idilinaa
VIP
Everyone’s probably seen those fake SNAP/EBT stats that went viral. That figure was actually about asylum seekers’ (refugees’) "eligibility" , not the percentage of total households actually receiving benefits.
Since the other discussion thread on this got tossed in the Qashin, I figured I’d re-share some of the research that was posted there but in a clearer, more accessible way.
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services has solid datasets and programs that track how many people from each ethnic or racial group are off cash assistance (welfare, food stamps/SNAP, etc.) and working at least 30 hours per week across all counties.
At the bottom, they share graphs and percentages from 2022/2023 showing how many people in each population group are self-supporting without government assistance:
So not only do Somalis perform above all other racial and ethnic groups, they exceed expectations by several percentage points.
This statewide trend holds true when looking at individual counties. The “Difference with Whites” column shows that Somali performance exceeds whites by roughly 31.7% on average over the last four quarters , the largest positive gap of any group. Black Americans, Native Americans, Mixed Race, and Hispanic groups rank lowest in self-supporting rates.
What’s noteworthy about this is that it indirectly exposes how misleading the reported household median income statistics are. If Somali households truly earned around $40,000 or less per year, their self-support rates would not be the highest , they’d likely resemble those of Hispanic and Black American households (in the 40–60% range).
I won’t go into the detailed, in-depth breakdown of why and how those figures are inaccurate here , that will be reserved for later publication.
But even from observation, the numbers never quite added up. Consider the scale of investment ($5,000–$100,000 per investor) and remittances ($500 million per year, as reported in 2013) that Somalis in America send back to Somalia and Somaliland. Add to that the Somali-owned malls, logistics companies, shops, cafés, trucking fleets, and real estate developments, along with heavy investment in property both in the U.S. and abroad.
Consistent remittance flows year after year , even during recessions , are not signs of an economically struggling community. They’re signs of a trade-oriented, entrepreneurial diaspora with substantial unrecorded capital flows.
For the community to send half a billion dollars annually, while maintaining investment at home and abroad, clearly shows that real disposable income is much higher than official reports suggest. If Somali Americans can consistently send such large sums, build multimillion-dollar enterprises, and maintain the highest self-sufficiency rates in Minnesota and other states, then the official income data simply does not reflect economic reality.
To illustrate this further, take the figures from the Somali American Chamber of Commerce in Ohio. According to their data on their website/social media, Somali businesses number around 15,000, with a total Somali population of 75,000 in the state.
If you do the math: 15,000 ÷ 75,000 = 0.2, meaning Somalis have a 20% business ownership rate , an exceptionally high figure.
Lets put this in context:
General U.S. population: around 9–10% own a business.
Asian Americans: about 10–12%.
White Americans: roughly 9%.
African Americans: about 5%.
Latinos/Hispanics: around 6–7%.
Immigrant groups (average): ~11–13%.
So, Somalis in America have the highest business ownership and operation rate in the country , nearly double that of most groups.
Somali men also show a labour force participation rate higher than the U.S.-born male average.
Based on the data I shared privately on Somali men with families in Norway, around 6 in 10 were self-supporting after 8 years, and those with families actually earned more than single men. That suggests a strong provider effect, which likely explains the lower female labour force participation rate , many Somali women are stay at home mothers.
The same pattern is seen among other family-oriented immigrant groups like the Burmese and Hmong.
Since the other discussion thread on this got tossed in the Qashin, I figured I’d re-share some of the research that was posted there but in a clearer, more accessible way.
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services has solid datasets and programs that track how many people from each ethnic or racial group are off cash assistance (welfare, food stamps/SNAP, etc.) and working at least 30 hours per week across all counties.
At the bottom, they share graphs and percentages from 2022/2023 showing how many people in each population group are self-supporting without government assistance:
- American Indian (Native American): 45.6%
- Asian American: 77%
- Asian Immigrant, Hmong: 62%
- Asian Immigrant, not Hmong: 82%
- Black Immigrant, not Somali: 78%
- Black Immigrant, Somali: 84%
- Black native-born: 48%
- Hispanic: 64%
- Multiple races: 52%
- White: 66%
So not only do Somalis perform above all other racial and ethnic groups, they exceed expectations by several percentage points.
This statewide trend holds true when looking at individual counties. The “Difference with Whites” column shows that Somali performance exceeds whites by roughly 31.7% on average over the last four quarters , the largest positive gap of any group. Black Americans, Native Americans, Mixed Race, and Hispanic groups rank lowest in self-supporting rates.
What’s noteworthy about this is that it indirectly exposes how misleading the reported household median income statistics are. If Somali households truly earned around $40,000 or less per year, their self-support rates would not be the highest , they’d likely resemble those of Hispanic and Black American households (in the 40–60% range).
I won’t go into the detailed, in-depth breakdown of why and how those figures are inaccurate here , that will be reserved for later publication.
But even from observation, the numbers never quite added up. Consider the scale of investment ($5,000–$100,000 per investor) and remittances ($500 million per year, as reported in 2013) that Somalis in America send back to Somalia and Somaliland. Add to that the Somali-owned malls, logistics companies, shops, cafés, trucking fleets, and real estate developments, along with heavy investment in property both in the U.S. and abroad.
Consistent remittance flows year after year , even during recessions , are not signs of an economically struggling community. They’re signs of a trade-oriented, entrepreneurial diaspora with substantial unrecorded capital flows.
For the community to send half a billion dollars annually, while maintaining investment at home and abroad, clearly shows that real disposable income is much higher than official reports suggest. If Somali Americans can consistently send such large sums, build multimillion-dollar enterprises, and maintain the highest self-sufficiency rates in Minnesota and other states, then the official income data simply does not reflect economic reality.
To illustrate this further, take the figures from the Somali American Chamber of Commerce in Ohio. According to their data on their website/social media, Somali businesses number around 15,000, with a total Somali population of 75,000 in the state.
If you do the math: 15,000 ÷ 75,000 = 0.2, meaning Somalis have a 20% business ownership rate , an exceptionally high figure.
Lets put this in context:
General U.S. population: around 9–10% own a business.
Asian Americans: about 10–12%.
White Americans: roughly 9%.
African Americans: about 5%.
Latinos/Hispanics: around 6–7%.
Immigrant groups (average): ~11–13%.
So, Somalis in America have the highest business ownership and operation rate in the country , nearly double that of most groups.
Somali men also show a labour force participation rate higher than the U.S.-born male average.
Based on the data I shared privately on Somali men with families in Norway, around 6 in 10 were self-supporting after 8 years, and those with families actually earned more than single men. That suggests a strong provider effect, which likely explains the lower female labour force participation rate , many Somali women are stay at home mothers.
The same pattern is seen among other family-oriented immigrant groups like the Burmese and Hmong.
