The Star Tribune, MPR News and KARE 11 interviewed 800 Minnesota registered voters between Sept. 12 and Sept. 14, 2022. All indicated they are likely to vote in the November general election. Findings from questions about crime and public safety are below. Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Scroll down the page for details about how the poll was conducted, a map of the Minnesota regions used in this poll and the demographics of the 800 respondents.

In the last few years, do you feel crime in your community has increased, has been reduced or has stayed the same?

Increased Reduced 1% Same
54%   45%
Increased Reduced Same
Hennepin/ Ramsey 52% 2% 46%
Rest of metro 58 1 41
Southern Minn. 52 2 46
Northern Minn. 52 0 48
Men 58 2 40
Women 51 0 49
DFL/ Democrat 44 3 53
Republican 64 0 36
Independent/ other 54 1 45
18-34 49 1 51
35-49 55 0 45
50-64 57 2 41
65+ 52 2 46
No college 56 1 43
College degree 51 1 47
White 54 1 45
Nonwhite 52 3 45
Trump voters 67 0 33
Biden voters 40 2 57

In the past year, was there ever a time when you feared that someone might threaten or physically attack you in your neighborhood?

Yes No
17% 83%
Yes No
Hennepin/ Ramsey 26% 74%
Rest of metro 11 89
Southern Minn. 10 90
Northern Minn. 15 85
Men 18 82
Women 15 85
DFL/ Democrat 15 85
Republican 18 82
Independent/ other 17 83
18-34 21 79
35-49 15 85
50-64 16 84
65+ 16 84
No college 16 84
College degree 17 83
White 15 85
Nonwhite 27 73
Trump voters 20 80
Biden voters 11 89

About the poll

The findings of this Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll are based on live interviews conducted Sept. 12 to Sept. 14, 2022, with 800 Minnesota registered voters who indicated they are likely to vote in the November general election. The poll was conducted for the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio News and KARE 11 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc.
Those interviewed were randomly selected from a phone-matched Minnesota voter registration list that included both land-line and cell phone numbers. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration by county. The interviews were conducted via land line (28%) and cellphone (72%).
The margin of sampling error for this sample of 800 registered voters, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than ± 3.5 percentage points. This means that there is a 95% probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The margin of error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or age grouping.
The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents is 35% Democrats, 32% Republicans and 33% independents or other.
Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion surveys, such as nonresponse, question wording or context effects. In addition, news events may have affected opinions during the period the poll was taken.
The demographic profile of this poll of likely voters is an accurate reflection of their respective voter populations. This determination is based on more than 100 statewide polls conducted by Mason-Dixon in Minnesota over the past 34 years – a period that spans eight presidential election cycles that began in 1988.
Readers can e-mail questions to matt.delong@startribune.com.
PARTY ID
DFL/Democrat 279 (35%)
Republican 258 (32%)
Independent/ other 263 (33%)
AGE
18-34 136 (17%)
35-49 234 (29%)
50-64 222 (28%)
65+ 203 (25%)
Refused 5 (1%)
RACE
White/Caucasian 684 (86%)
Black/African American 45 (6%)
Hispanic/Latino 41 (5%)
Asian/Pacific Islander 17 (2%)
Other 6 (1%)
Refused 7 (1%)
GENDER ID
Men 381 (48%)
Women 414 (52%)
Other 5 (<1%)
REGION
Hennepin/Ramsey 260 (33%)
Rest of metro 215 (27%)
Southern Minnesota 155 (19%)
Northern Minnesota 170 (21%)
EDUCATION
High school or less 169 (21%)
Some college/Vocational 255 (32%)
College graduate 232 (29%)
Graduate degree 137 (17%)
Refused 7 (<1%)
2020 VOTE
Donald Trump 344 (43%)
Joe Biden 387 (48%)
Other 11 (1%)
Did not vote 39 (5%)
Not sure/Refused 19 (2%)
INTERVIEW
Land line 221 (28%)
Cell Phone 579 (72%)