Blog · October 14, 2026 · Minnesota
Dakota County Township Map, Minnesota
How to tell which township a parcel in Dakota County sits in, and what that means near Hastings.
Main page: Dakota County, MN GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, Dakota County facts and neighboring maps).
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If a deed near Coates mentions a township, or a tax bill names one, the Dakota County township map is how you locate it on the ground. Below we sort out the kinds of townships in Dakota County and where to see each one.
What a Dakota County township map shows
A township name on a county tax record refers to the civil township where the land near Eagan sits. The survey township cited in deeds near Burnsville follows the federal survey grid, in which each township is about 36 square miles, divided into 36 numbered sections.
Finding the tract on the Dakota County map
The county's own public map is the Dakota County parcel viewer, and it opens without an account for parcels in Hastings and the rest of the county. Click any Dakota County parcel near Hastings to open its record: owner, parcel ID and assessed acreage are typically listed. If the official address for the Dakota County, MN map ever changes, our directory page carries the current link for Hastings and the rest of the county.
From Hastings to the back roads
Hastings is the county seat, and Apple Valley, Burnsville, Coates, and Eagan are among the other towns on the county map. Unincorporated communities in the county, including Castle Rock, Etter, and Eureka Center, show up as small groups of parcels along the roads. Census Bureau estimates put Dakota County at about 447,440 residents in 2023 on approximately 563 square miles of land. Subdivision lots dominate the county map around Hastings, and open tracts are scarce. Landforms such as the Lebanon Hills Regional Park shape where roads and homesites fall in Dakota County.
Tracts that cross the Dakota County line
Near the edge of the county, check the next map over: Goodhue County, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Rice County, and Scott County all border it. Our Minnesota page links each map neighboring Dakota County.
Using the Dakota County parcel viewer as a Dakota County township map
Open the Dakota County parcel viewer and look in the layer list for township or municipal boundaries; click a parcel near Eagan and the record frequently names the township. Some Dakota County viewers include a PLSS layer that labels sections, which helps when a deed near Eagan cites T and R numbers.
How the survey grid is numbered
For land around Burnsville, numbering starts with section 1 in the northeast corner, and the numbering ends at 36 in the southeast corner. Calls like 'NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4' near Empire make sense in reverse: locate the southwest quarter, then its northeast quarter, on the county grid. Correction lines and irregular sections exist, so a section near Burnsville may not be exactly 640 acres.
Old names and overlapping districts in Dakota County
If a county deed near Etter cites a township that no longer appears on the map, the county recorder can typically explain the change. For property tax questions, the township shown on the county record for a parcel near Apple Valley is the one that counts.
Work and land use in Dakota County
Dakota County's 2022 business count was 10,950 establishments, with health care and social assistance, professional and technical services, and retail trade the largest groups. Compared with national shares, Dakota County leans toward paper manufacturing and nursing and residential care, which shapes demand for land near Burnsville.
Mailing towns vs. townships near Burnsville
Township lines near Eagan can matter more than the mailing town, so check the record before assuming. When you compare tax bills for land near Burnsville, check if the parcels sit in the same township; levies can differ across the line.
Dakota County township map questions
Why is my mailing address in Coates but my township different?
Postal service areas around Coates cross township lines, so the two frequently differ.
What do township and range mean on a deed near Coates?
They locate land near Coates on the federal survey grid; each survey township holds 36 sections of about 640 acres.
Does the Dakota County GIS map show township lines?
Usually; turn on boundary layers in the county viewer and zoom toward Farmington.
How do I locate what township a property in Dakota County is in?
Click the parcel on the Dakota County parcel viewer; the Dakota County record typically names the township.
How many acres is a section in Dakota County?
Roughly 640 acres per section in Dakota County; real sections vary a bit since of survey corrections.
Open the official Dakota County, MN parcel map Dakota County in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.