Minneapolis is roughly 59 square miles (about 153 square kilometers) in total area, with around 6% of that covered by water like lakes and the Mississippi River.

City size basics

  • The city’s total area is reported between about 58–59 square miles (151–153 square kilometers), depending on the source and rounding.
  • Of this, roughly 55 square miles are land , with the remainder being water.

Land vs. water

  • Land area is about 54.9–55 square miles (around 142 square kilometers), where most of the city’s neighborhoods, streets, and businesses are located.
  • Water area is about 3.5–3.6 square miles (around 9–9.4 square kilometers), reflecting Minneapolis’s many lakes and its stretch of the Mississippi River.

How that feels on the ground

  • The official city footprint is often described as roughly 11 miles long by 5 miles wide, giving a compact but dense urban feel.
  • As part of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis blends into neighboring St. Paul, so the built-up metro feels much larger than the city limits suggest.

Quick comparison snapshot

[5][7][9][3] [9][3][5] [7][3][5][9] [1]
Measure Minneapolis figure
Total area ≈58–59 sq mi (151–153 km²)
Land area ≈55 sq mi (142 km²)
Water area ≈3.5–3.6 sq mi (9–9.4 km²)
Typical dimensions About 11 miles by 5 miles across
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.