Insights from a decade of economic research in Indian Country

In 2025, the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) observes a significant milestone: our tenth anniversary. Building on the Federal Reserve System’s long-standing engagement with Native American communities, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis established CICD in 2015 in recognition that thriving Native economies are vital to overall economic prosperity.

Important milestones invite us to reflect on where we’ve come, what we’ve learned, and where we’re going. In a decade of research and data work, CICD has gained insights about Native economies. In honor of this point in our history, this article offers findings that shed light on factors contributing to Indian Country economic prosperity—organized around 10 key questions guiding CICD’s research. Taken together, these research insights illustrate the distinctiveness of Native economies—and their contributions to local and regional economies throughout the United States.

A research center focused on understanding Native economies

In remarks at the 2015 Federal Reserve System Community Development Research Conference, then-Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota spoke to the importance of community development work taking both local and broad perspectives. As Kocherlakota observed, community development requires understanding issues specific to individual communities as well as the ways in which communities experience broader social and economic forces. Every community offers its own economic lessons.

The Federal Reserve has a responsibility to promote a healthy economy and strong financial system in which people in every community can participate in the economy and prosper. Rooted in the Community Reinvestment Act, the Federal Reserve’s community development function helps improve economic outcomes in low- and moderate-income communities.

At the time of CICD’s founding in 2015, research on intergenerational economic mobility drew attention to the economic development needs in Indian Country. By many economic measures connected to complex history, Indian Country stands out in terms of its unique challenges and opportunities—often understudied and poorly understood by the broader research community.

Over the course of the past decade, CICD’s research topics have evolved, but our founding purpose has remained the same: to advance understanding of Indian Country economic prosperity. The following research insights reflect the experiences and contributions of many community members, practitioners, policymakers, tribal leaders, and researchers in Indian Country and beyond who have participated in and informed CICD’s research.

How do Native entity enterprises influence local and regional economies?

Local economies are inextricably intertwined. Particularly for Indian Country—spread out across the United States—it’s important to understand how Native and non-Native economies are connected. To that end, CICD research has explored the regional economic impacts of tribal gaming and federal contracting, which are two of the largest and fastest-growing revenue sources in Indian Country.

One study examined how consumer traffic to local businesses changed when nearby tribal casinos reopened after COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were lifted. Because casinos act as anchors to surrounding businesses, nearby hospitality businesses saw three times as many visitors as they would have if the casinos had remained closed. The spillover effect was evident up to 1.5 miles away, with effects for businesses located both on and off reservations. These findings build on CICD research quantifying the impact of tribal gaming on labor markets on reservations, including sustained increases in average annual wage income and employment.

Other research explored the impact of Native federal contracting on both Native- and non-Native-owned small businesses. As defined in this research, Native federal contracting included contracts that Native entity enterprises—that is, Alaska Native Corporations, Native Hawaiian Organizations, and federally recognized tribes—secured with the federal government to provide goods and services. Native entity enterprises regularly subcontract to small businesses, many of which are non-Native-owned. Our analysis found that 92.9 percent of the total small business subcontracts from Native entity enterprises’ prime contracts go to non-Native-owned businesses.

What roles do tribal governments play in Indian Country economies?

Tribal governments provide public services addressing the unique needs of their communities. With differences in their taxation authority, tribes receive revenues from a mix of sources—including tribally owned enterprises and other revenue streams—that differs considerably from that of other governments. For example, CICD research has found that for federally recognized tribes, growth in revenue from federal contracting outpaced growth from gaming or natural resources from 1988 to 2021.

Tribal governments participating in the initial pilot of CICD’s Survey of Native Nations—which provides participating tribal governments with benchmark public finance comparisons—reported receiving revenues from a variety of sources, including tribally owned enterprises, intergovernmental transfers, investment income, sales and services, license and permit fees, private donations, rent and lease revenues, royalties, and the Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance program. While they reported some tax revenues, participating tribal governments overwhelmingly relied on other revenue streams.

How do tribally owned enterprises contribute to their communities?

Tribally owned and other Native entity enterprises are distinct from other for-profit companies in their mission to serve their communities. They invest in their communities through cultural and language programs, educational programming and scholarships, social support, and other community initiatives. While other companies may engage in charitable giving, Native entity enterprises factor community development into routine business decisions. Tribally owned enterprises also typically return a portion of their revenue to the tribal government, helping to fund government and essential community services.

The importance of tribally owned enterprises to tribal economies was particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many tribally owned enterprises are concentrated in sectors such as gaming and entertainment that were disproportionately impacted by social-distancing measures. In a fall 2020 survey, CICD found that over half of tribally owned enterprises reported revenue losses of more than 20 percent following initial shutdowns and partial reopenings. As a result of the losses, enterprises had less revenue to allocate to tribal governments—revenue that could have gone toward community services and public infrastructure.

What characteristics of intergovernmental tax agreements help provide tax clarity in Indian Country?

In Indian Country, tribal and state government tax authority can—in certain situations—overlap for the same businesses or transactions. For example, both a state and tribal government might have authority to levy sales tax on goods purchased by non-tribal members on a reservation. Such dual taxation can impede economic development. Intergovernmental tax agreements known as tribal-state tax compacts arose as a tool to help governments establish clear procedures that honor both jurisdictions’ taxation authority.

In recent decades, tribes have entered into hundreds of compacts with state governments to create smooth and efficient structures for tax collection, but the actual experience of tribal-state tax compacting has not been systematically researched. CICD policy discussion papers explored a selection of existing compacts and offered insights to inform future agreements. In this review, characteristics of clear agreements included taxation terms premised on quality, up-to-date data; flexible terms that account for changing economic conditions; clear lines of communication that support both governments in raising questions and considering updates; and an explicit recognition of tribal sovereignty.

In the initial pilot of CICD’s Survey of Native Nations, intergovernmental tax agreements were ubiquitous among tribes that provided information about their revenues. Tax revenues collected through such agreements accounted for 95 percent of all tax revenues reported by tribes that participated in the pilot.

How does public infrastructure matter to Native economies?

Modern infrastructure—such as roads and bridges, broadband, clean water, and health care facilities—is expensive for any government to provide, but tribal governments’ revenue constraints can pose additional challenges. Over the years, CICD has explored Native communities’ access to different types of public infrastructure and programming, including broadband infrastructure and water. Our research has shed light on how infrastructure gaps in Native communities can impede economic growth and leave communities more vulnerable to economic shocks.

For example, we found that during the pandemic, Native American workers were less likely than other groups to work from home—a difference that could not be fully explained by variations in workers’ occupations. One potential contributor may have been Indian Country’s lower access to fast, affordable Internet relative to geographies outside of Indian Country. As another example, historical underinvestment in physical infrastructure can raise the cost of development, such as when limited access to water or transportation raises the price of construction. In these ways, infrastructure challenges may impact Indian Country’s participation in the economy.

How are many Native CDFIs addressing credit challenges?

In Indian Country, limited access to credit and financial services is well-documented. A variety of challenges limit the availability of loans for business start-ups and expansions, home mortgages, home repairs, consumer purchases, and other needs. Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) emerged to try to address credit and capital challenges, but until recently there has been a relative lack of research systematically documenting their work. Over the past several years, CICD has conducted a series of studies to provide Native CDFI practitioners and policymakers with actionable research insights.

CICD research shows how some Native CDFIs adopt a relationship-based approach to lending that can include building strong relationships with clients and providing free financial counseling to increase clients’ financial literacy. CICD research has shown that these community-centered approaches are associated with lessened uncertainty in lending outcomes and a greater tendency of borrowers to meet loan obligations.

For example, in an analysis of consumer, home, and business loan data from 11 Native CDFI loan funds, we found that a loan was less likely to be delinquent when the loan officer—based on their interactions with the client—perceived the borrower as at least “somewhat engaged” in the borrowing process. In the case of business loans, researchers found that the loan officer’s knowledge of the borrower’s community reputation and qualifications to run a business predicted loan delinquency better than traditional credit scores. In another study, researchers identified that Native CDFIs’ proximity to the communities they serve improves credit outcomes. Looking at areas lying in or within five kilometers (about three miles) of a federally recognized reservation, adding one Native CDFI staff member per 1,000 residents was associated with, on average, a 45-point increase in Equifax risk scores for individuals without established credit.

What contributes to the affordability of homeownership in Indian Country?

Affordable housing is essential to community economic well-being. While individuals in Indian Country have a range of housing experiences, housing is often in short supply, overcrowded, and in physically substandard condition. CICD’s work has shed light on limited housing availability and the complexities of mortgage lending in Indian Country, including lack of access to credit and financial services, ownership complexities related to trust land, and construction costs.

When housing is available, we found that compared to other borrowers, Native American borrowers more often apply for manufactured-home loans. This is particularly the case in census tracts with a higher share of housing units on reservation lands. Our research has also found the market for manufactured-home loans for Native Americans living on or near reservations to be concentrated among a few lenders. Native American borrowers on tribal lands are also more likely to receive high-cost loans—in part due to the high prevalence of home-only loans, which are personal property loans used to purchase manufactured homes.

To increase understanding of the mortgage lending process and challenges to homeownership on trust lands, CICD co-published the Tribal Leaders Handbook on Homeownership in 2018. This resource provides information on navigating land issues and housing programs in Indian Country, preparing prospective buyers for homeownership, and financing housing projects.

What is the return on investment in early childhood development in Indian Country?

A 2018 CICD paper highlighted studies that have identified lower levels of educational attainment as a factor in Native Americans’ relatively poorer workforce outcomes. Building on the Minneapolis Fed’s early childhood development research, CICD in its early years explored the influence of early education on children’s readiness to learn and on economic outcomes in Indian Country.

Investments in early childhood development yield long-term economic benefits. In Indian Country, high-quality early childhood development programs can lead to a variety of positive individual and community outcomes. Early childhood Native language immersion programs may also contribute to children’s education outcomes and overall well-being.

CICD also explored factors that can help sustain early childhood development benefits once children enter elementary school, including absenteeism-prevention programs and parents’ engagement in their children’s education.

How can new data tools increase understanding of Indian Country economic conditions at local to national levels?

Indian Country has been referred to as the “asterisk nation”—a phrase calling attention to the insufficient sample sizes of Native Americans in many surveys and data-collection efforts, which have limited the availability of meaningful data about conditions in their communities. CICD undertook an initiative to develop new data tools that deepen understanding of Indian Country economic circumstances at community to national levels.

In 2023, CICD introduced a Native Community Data Profiles tool that connects data from a variety of public sources to give a place-based look at many topics. For a given Native geography, this tool provides data on its geography; people; and community infrastructure, including housing, education, health care, Internet connectivity, food access, labor force participation, industries, and income. Another tool, Mapping Native American Financial Institutions, facilitates place-based searches of banks, credit unions, and loan funds that serve Native communities and foster financial inclusion in Indian Country.

New data resources also increase understanding of economic conditions across Indian Country as a whole. For example, CICD’s Native American Labor Market Dashboard enables a deep dive on labor market conditions for Native people relative to the overall population.

These data tools complement other CICD research advancing understanding of the economic landscape in Indian Country. For example, current Native entrepreneurship rates available in a data tool can be considered in the context of research on survival rates of businesses on and off reservations.

How are economic data innovations advancing evidence-based decision-making across Indian Country?

Over the past decade, tribal leaders, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers at local to national levels have advanced the collection, governance, and use of Indian Country economic data. Each year since 2021, CICD has convened a research and data summit featuring stories of data innovations from across Indian Country. Examples have included tribal censuses; survey partnerships, such as between a tribe and university; Native-led data portals; data relationships with the U.S. government; and federal interagency data collaboration. New tools, including the dashboards CICD developed, have also become available to support Native communities and individuals in telling their data stories. These data innovations have coincided with new resources available to support tribes and researchers in developing rigorous data collection, governance, and use policies.

As we look to the future of our work, we see a data and research landscape that is still too sparse, with insufficient information for Native people and communities to make decisions that advance their prosperity. But we are encouraged that decision-makers in Indian Country and beyond are increasingly equipped with comprehensive, high-quality economic research and data. We look forward to the research and data advancements that the next decade will bring.

Throughout the year, we hope you’ll join us as we commemorate our first decade of research and data initiatives with articles and a special milestone-year data summit that provide opportunities to learn from economic innovations across Indian Country. If you’re not already receiving our event invitations and email updates, we welcome you to connect with us.