Local News Claimed Somalis Add to the State Economy, Then the Internet Did the Math – It Didn’t Add Up

Minnesota news outlet KSTP published an article claiming that Somali immigrants are a net benefit to the state economy, but social media users quickly identified major issues with the claim.

KSTP published an article on Dec. 3 entitled “Somali Minnesotans drive economic growth, pay $67M taxes annually.”

In essence, the article claimed that because Somali immigrants “generate at least $500 million in income annually” and pay “about $67 million in state and local taxes,” arguments regarding their excessive reliance on the welfare state and high unemployment levels are overblown.

But social media commenters found several realities the article was not considering, including the welfare use, as well as a recent $1 billion state services fraud scandal driven largely by members of the Somali community.

“So they only owe, what, $933,000,000.00 for the autism center fraud alone? Excellent propaganda point,” Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway wrote, subtracting the $67 million tax revenue from the total amount of reported fraud.

Somali Minnesotans generate at least $500 million in income annually and pay about $67 million in state and local taxes. https://t.co/bfyS71ZQQD

— KSTP (@KSTP) December 4, 2025

Dustin Grage, a Townhall columnist based in Minnesota, added some more figures to the discussion.

Somalis have a 58 percent poverty rate, a 42 percent food stamp usage rate, and a 40 percent unemployment rate, while 41 percent do not have a high school education.

All of those statistics are several times more severe than the Minnesota state averages.

Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh crunched some more numbers based on the KSTP report.

“There are around 80 thousand Somalians in Minnesota. If they contribute 67 million dollars in state and local taxes, that means they each pay on average about 800 bucks or so,” he noted.

“To put that in perspective, the average Minnesotan pays anywhere from 8 to 10 THOUSAND in state and local taxes. Which means Somalians are contributing more than 10 times less, to say nothing about the billions of dollars in fraud.”

There are around 80 thousand Somalians in Minnesota. If they contribute 67 million dollars in state and local taxes, that means they each pay on average about 800 bucks or so. To put that in perspective, the average Minnesotan pays anywhere from 8 to 10 THOUSAND in state and… https://t.co/kpDwlXcbEJ

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) December 4, 2025

Walsh concluded, “The media is trying to make the point that Somalians contribute to the economy but instead they’ve proved exactly the opposite.”

Other commenters noted the same realities.

“You forgot to divide by the population. You also forgot to tally the tax dollar consumption, including fraud,” one said.

“Anyone with a basic ability to do math knows this is not a positive argument for the Somalis,” another noted.

And still more observed that remittances, or the money sent overseas to other countries by foreigners working in the United States, were not even considered.

“Now show their remittances back to Somalia. I dare you,” one user challenged.

The debate over the value of Somali immigrants, whether illegal or legal, comes as the Trump administration restricts Third World migration.

That policy was spurred by an Afghan refugee killing a National Guard member and gravely injuring another in late November.

Both Afghanistan and Somalia are predominantly Islamic nations with active terrorist groups.

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