Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot
The Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot was a two-year program run by the City of Minneapolis that gave $500 per month to 200 low-income households in nine Minneapolis ZIP codes from June 2022 to June 2024. The pilot was funded with roughly $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) relief funds, and Minneapolis's mayor is a member of the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) network. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis independently designed and conducted a randomized controlled trial evaluation, comparing the 200 payment recipients to a control group drawn from an applicant pool of 530 households. Results through 24 months showed improvements in food security, financial security, well-being, and psychological wellness, with no detected reduction in labor supply.
ARPA-Funded, Randomized Controlled Trial, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, Federal Reserve Bank Evaluation, BIPOC-Majority Recipients
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- City of Minneapolis (Community Planning & Economic Development)
- City
- Minneapolis
- State / Province
- Minnesota
- Country
- United States
Contact
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 200
- Funding type
- Government
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 12,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 24 months
- Benefit details
Enrolled households received a flat $500 monthly cash payment with no restrictions on use, delivered for 24 consecutive months for a total of $12,000 per household. Payments carried no work requirement once a household was enrolled. A comparison/control group of applicants who were not selected for payments instead received $150 stipends for completing periodic research surveys at 6, 12, and 24 months. The program has concluded and is not currently accepting participants.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
To enroll, applicants had to reside in one of nine specific Minneapolis ZIP codes (55403, 55404, 55405, 55407, 55411, 55412, 55413, 55430, 55454), be at least 18 years old by January 1, 2022, have household income at or below 50% of the Area Median Income for Minneapolis, and have experienced pandemic-related hardship such as job loss, reduced hours, or loss of childcare/technology/transportation access. From an applicant pool of 530 eligible households, 200 were randomly selected (stratified by poverty level, presence of children, and ZIP code group) to receive payments, while the remainder served as a research comparison group. Selected recipients skewed heavily BIPOC (80.5%) and female (69%), with an average household size of 3.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
Financial
- Income as % of Federal Poverty Level
- 200 %
- Income as % of Area Median Income
- 50 %
Geography
- US states covered
- Minnesota
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Minneapolis
- Counties covered
- Hennepin
- ZIP / postal codes covered
- 55403, 55404, 55405, 55407, 55411, 55412, 55413, 55430, 55454
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Research / participation requirements
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (researchers Andrew Goodman-Bacon, Ryan Nunn, and Vanessa Palmer) independently designed and managed the program's evaluation as a pre-registered stratified randomized controlled trial (AEA RCT Registry AEARCTR-0011369), covering both payment recipients and the non-recipient comparison group. Participants completed surveys at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months measuring labor supply, housing stability, financial security, well-being, food security, and psychological wellness (Kessler-10 scale). Twelve-month findings published in January 2024 showed statistically significant improvements in food security, financial security, well-being, and psychological wellness for payment recipients relative to the comparison group, with no detectable negative effect on labor supply; final 24-month results follow the same general pattern per city program-outcomes reporting.
Application Process
- How to apply
Applications were accepted online through the City of Minneapolis website during a defined open-enrollment window in late 2021. The program has since closed and is no longer accepting applicants.
- Selection process
Applicants meeting ZIP code, age, income, and pandemic-impact eligibility criteria (530 households total) were entered into a randomized selection process administered with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, using a stratified randomization method (strata based on poverty level, presence of children, and ZIP code group). 200 households were randomly selected to receive GBI payments; the remaining eligible applicants formed a research comparison group receiving small survey-completion stipends instead.
