Minnesota Population by County, 2025 Census Estimates
Minnesota population by county: July 2025 Census estimates for all 87 counties, change since 2020, density, and a link to each official parcel map.
Looking for Minnesota population by county? The Census Bureau estimates that Minnesota had 5,830,405 residents on July 1, 2025, spread across 87 counties. Hennepin County is the most populous, with 1,284,784 people (22% of the state), and Traverse County is the least populous, with 3,130.
The table below lists every county with its 2025 estimate, its April 2020 starting point, the change, people per square mile, and a link to its official parcel viewer.
Percent change runs from the April 1, 2020 estimates base to July 1, 2025. People per square mile is the July 2025 estimate divided by the county's land area in the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer file, so lakes and bays are left out.
How Minnesota's population is spread out
Grouping the counties by size shows how concentrated the state is:
Residents (July 2025)
Counties
Total residents
Share of state
1,000,000 or more
1
1,284,784
22%
250,000 to 999,999
4
1,667,833
29%
100,000 to 249,999
7
1,066,508
18%
25,000 to 99,999
30
1,273,290
22%
10,000 to 24,999
24
393,379
7%
Under 10,000
21
144,611
2%
5 counties with at least 250,000 residents hold 51% of the state's population.
Most and least densely populated
The most crowded counties by people per square mile of land:
Ramsey County: 3,558 per sq mi (541,623 people on 152 sq mi)
Hennepin County: 2,319 per sq mi (1,284,784 people on 554 sq mi)
Anoka County: 904 per sq mi (381,605 people on 422 sq mi)
Dakota County: 814 per sq mi (457,710 people on 563 sq mi)
Washington County: 746 per sq mi (286,895 people on 385 sq mi)
The most thinly settled:
Lake of the Woods County: 2.9 per sq mi (3,770 people on 1,298 sq mi)
Kittson County: 3.7 per sq mi (4,031 people on 1,099 sq mi)
Koochiching County: 3.7 per sq mi (11,587 people on 3,105 sq mi)
Cook County: 3.8 per sq mi (5,522 people on 1,453 sq mi)
Marshall County: 5.0 per sq mi (8,798 people on 1,775 sq mi)
About these numbers
They are estimates. Between censuses the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program updates county totals each year from births, deaths and migration records. The next full count is the 2030 census.
The base is April 1, 2020. The estimates start from an April 1, 2020 "estimates base" built from the 2020 census, which is why it is slightly different from the published census count.
Each new release revises the past. A newer vintage can change earlier years as well, so compare numbers from the same release, as this page does.
Statewide total. The counties add up exactly to the statewide figure of 5,830,405 in the same file.
Using population numbers in a land search
Big counties, busy offices. In the most populous counties, parcel maps and deed records are usually online and searchable, but recording and permit offices are busier. Allow for that if you are on a deadline.
Small counties, fewer sales. In counties with only a few thousand people, land changes hands less often, so there are fewer recent sales to compare a price with. Recorded deeds and the local assessor's sales records are the best source.
Density hints at lot size. A low people-per-square-mile figure usually means farms, ranches and timber tracts; a high one means subdivided lots. The parcel viewer shows the actual parcel lines.
Check the official map. Use the parcel viewer link in the table for boundaries, parcel numbers and owner names, then confirm anything important with the local assessor and the office that records deeds.