OLMSTED County, MN

Olmsted County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population is 162,847. Its county seat and largest city is Rochester.

Olmsted County is part of the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Wisconsin Territory was established by the federal government effective July 3, 1836, and existed until its eastern portion was granted statehood (as Wisconsin) in 1848. Therefore, the federal government set up the Minnesota Territory effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. One of those original counties, Wabasha, had portions partitioned off in 1853 to create Fillmore and Rice counties. Then on February 20, 1855, portions of Rice, Wabasha, and Fillmore counties were partitioned off to create the present county, with Rochester (which was also platted that year) as county seat. The county name recognized David Olmsted (1822-1861), a member of the first territorial council and the first mayor of St. Paul.

The county boundaries have remained unchanged since 1855.

Geography

Olmsted County is a fairly unusual of mix urban and rural areas in that there's no transition or buffer between the two environments. Rochester, Minnesota's third largest city of roughly 118,000 people sits in the Zumbro River valley at the center of the county. Outside the valley however, with the exception of a small amount of urban growth in the last few years, remains farmland with small agricultural based communities and no directly adjacent suburbs. Stewartville, the county's second largest city, is slightly over 1/20th the size at roughly 6,000 people, an unusually large gap for a metropolitan area.

Olmsted County is drained by three rivers, all flowing to the Mississippi. The Zumbro River flows northward through the west central part of the county, into Wabasha County. The Whitewater flows northeast from the northeast part of the county into Winona County, and the Root flows east-southeastward through the lower part of the county into Fillmore County. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, etched by drainage gullies and marked by occasional buttes. The available area is devoted to agriculture or is developed for other productive uses. The county terrain slopes to the east and north, and its highest point is a hill 7.5 miles (12 km) west of Stewartville, at 1,380' (421m) ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is one of four counties in Minnesota that does not have any natural lakes (the other three being Mower, Pipestone, and Rock).

Major highways

Airports

Adjacent counties

Protected areas

Lakes

Though Olmsted County does not have any natural lakes, it does have six reservoirs created by dams:

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 124,277 people, 47,807 households, and 32,317 families in the county. The population density was 190/sqmi (73.5/km²). There were 49,422 housing units at an average density of 75.7/sqmi (29.2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.33% White, 2.68% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 4.27% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.92% from other races, and 1.51% from two or more races. 2.38% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 47,807 households, out of which 35.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.70% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.09.

The county population contained 27.00% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 32.20% from 25 to 44, 21.60% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $51,316, and the median income for a family was $61,610. Males had a median income of $40,196 versus $29,994 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,939. About 3.80% of families and 6.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.70% of those under age 18 and 9.50% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Olmsted has historically been a Republican-leaning county. However, rapid population growth in Rochester has made it more competitive in recent years. In 2020, Joe Biden won it by nearly 11 points, the best performance of any Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Since 2000, Olmsted County has voted for the winning presidential candidate in five of the six elections. The exception is 2016, where national winner Donald Trump narrowly lost the county by less than one percent.

Although it has trended Democratic at the presidential level, Olmsted County continues to lean Republican in state and local races, with split ticket voting becoming more common locally. Both of the county's seats in the Minnesota Senate are held by Republicans, as well as two of the four seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Since 1970, Olmsted County has only voted for the DFL candidate for governor twice: in 1974 and 2018. In 2018, then-Representative Tim Walz benefitted from high recognition in the district with a reputation at the time of being a moderate politician. Despite Walz winning a majority of the county's vote that election, Republican candidate Doug Wardlow concurrently won the greatest number of votes in Olmsted County in the 2018 Minnesota Attorney General election.

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Townships