As someone that also has an Economics background that applied to the MA program at MN, I can tell you that I was more than comfortable with the department. I also did my undergraduate degree at Minnesota and spent time in the Statistics, Computer Science and Economics areas.
Since I live here, I've also had the luxury to take a graduate level course in their program to get a feel for what it's like.
I understand your geographical concern, in that the closest major university is UW - Madison, is 4 hours away, but that's the Midwest for you! You also have Chicago at about 6.5 hours away. In both those cases you can also find cheap airfare and make it a 40 minute flight if you are so inclined to visit either school.
sharpe got a reaction from chrishacker in Questions on Minnesota, Department of Statistics