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Data: Microsoft; A. Misra et al. "Measuring AI Diffusion Across U.S. Geographies: County, State, and Metro Estimates." 2026; Chart: Kyle Stokes/Axios

Minnesotans who live in cities are twice as likely to use AI tools as those who live in rural communities, a new report from Microsoft shows.

Why it matters: The uneven spread of artificial intelligence could deepen existing economic opportunity gaps between urban and rural communities, Microsoft president Brad Smith tells Axios.

In rural Minnesota, 13.1% of working-age adults used tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Copilot.

In metropolitan counties, 28.4% of Minnesotans are using AI.

The big picture: Even residents of Minnesota's metro areas are using AI at lower rates than Americans in other metro areas.

Overall, the state ranked 38th for AI use.

The intrigue: College towns are AI hotspots nationwide.

Blue Earth County (home of Minnesota State University, Mankato) and Stevens County (University of Minnesota Morris) ranked 2nd and 3rd in the state, respectively, for AI usage.

Go deeper: AI adoption splits along urban-rural lines (from Axios' AI+ newsletter)

Microsoft president Brad Smith tells Axios

AI adoption splits along urban-rural lines

Minnesotans lag nation in rate of AI tool use

While national data show an urban-rural divide, Minnesotans in all communities are using the tools less often than other Americans.

A chloropleth map of Minnesota counties showing the share of working adults who use AI by county. In general, the share of AI users in rural counties is smaller than in more populated counties or those in the Twin Cities metro area — but two counties with the highest share of AI users are more rural

Minnesotans who live in cities are twice as likely to use AI tools as those who live in rural communities, a new <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="report" data-vars-click-url="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/topics/ai-economy-institute/reports/us-ai-adoption-2026-q1/" data-vars-content-id="6968c14b-dd0d-4cb1-88d8-22b172fe5d51" data-vars-headline="Minnesotans lag nation in rate of AI tool use" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/topics/ai-economy-institute/reports/us-ai-adoption-2026-q1/" target="_blank">report</a> from Microsoft shows.Why it matters: The uneven spread of artificial intelligence could deepen existing economic opportunity gaps between urban and rural communities, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Microsoft president Brad Smith tells Axios" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/28/ai-economic-opportunity-gap-microsoft-brad-smith" data-vars-content-id="6968c14b-dd0d-4cb1-88d8-22b172fe5d51" data-vars-headline="Minnesotans lag nation in rate of AI tool use" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/28/ai-economic-opportunity-gap-microsoft-brad-smith" target="_self">Microsoft president Brad Smith tells Axios</a>.

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National

A chloropleth map of Minnesota counties showing the share of working adults who use AI by county. In general, the share of AI users in rural counties is smaller than in more populated counties or those in the Twin Cities metro area — but two counties with the highest share of AI users are more rural: Blue Earth County and Stevens County.

Share of working-age adults who use AI, Q1 2026

Exclusive: AI adoption splits along urban-rural lines

Zuckerberg's Biohub unveils AI "world model" of proteins

DeepMind CEO: AI agents are a "practice run" for AGI

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Featured stories

Scoop: First Windows PCs powered by Nvidia chips to debut next week

Minnesotans lag nation in rate of AI tool use

Exclusive: AI adoption splits along urban-rural lines

Zuckerberg's Biohub unveils AI "world model" of proteins

DeepMind CEO: AI agents are a "practice run" for AGI