Minnesota Compass

Minnesota Compass is a social indicators project that measures progress in our state’s seven regions, 87 counties, and larger cities. Compass tracks trends in topic areas such as education, economy and workforce, health, housing, public safety, and a host of others. By tracking and analyzing trends in areas that affect our quality of life, Compass gives everyone in our state – policymakers, business and community leaders, and concerned individuals who live and work here – a common foundation to identify, understand, and act on community issues that affect our communities. Compass is led by Wilder Research, a division of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. Within McKnight’ Region & Communities strategy for sustainable regional development, Wilder has received project support from for Minnesota Compass.

Momentum for Minnesota Compass began in 2008 when a similar project, Twin Cities Compass, was launched. Leaders from around the state felt that Compass could be applied to their communities as well. After talking with leaders in business, government, nonprofit, and philanthropy from around the state, Wilder Research began working with a group of funders to implement Minnesota Compass.

In addition to collecting data on a variety of topics, Minnesota Compass highlights disparities across important quality of life topics. Seeing these disparities, the Itasca project, a group of chief executive officers from major Minnesota corporations, commissioned a study to research the impact of disparities based on race, class, and place in Minnesota. In response to the results, community organizations partnered with Twin Cities Public Television to produce a documentary series called “Close the Gap,” including a training video that provides a step-by-step guide to leading a training session with a community organization, workplace, or neighborhood group.