county

Cottonwood County, MN

Demographic and economic profile of Cottonwood County, MN, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Cottonwood County is a small agricultural county in southwestern Minnesota with a population of 11,458 and modest 0.8% growth over five years. The workforce of roughly 63.5% labor force participation skews toward lower educational attainment—22.9% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—while median worker earnings of $38,570 and a 3.9% unemployment rate reflect a stable, low-cost labor market. Housing costs are notably low, with a median home value of $154,000 and median gross rent of $765/month, and a mean commute of 16.0 minutes points to a compact, locally oriented economy.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

11,458

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$72,941

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.8% since 2018

Cottonwood County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone9,280 (81.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone625 (5.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race568 (5.0%)
  • Asian Alone455 (4.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone190 (1.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races162 (1.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish622
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island255
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic59
  4. 4.Vietnamese47
  5. 5.Other Indo-European7

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

25.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

52.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

22.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

6.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

436

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$54,827

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,105

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,323
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)788
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining623
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)542
  5. 5.Construction (Group)418

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,056
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,067
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations955
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations752
  5. 5.Service Occupations703

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 6.67×)577
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.70×)918
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.30×)411
  4. 4.Public Administration (LQ 1.25×)321
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.07×)1,357

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$154,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$765/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

74.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999464 (13.5%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999409 (11.9%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999355 (10.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999348 (10.1%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999330 (9.6%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999235 (6.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

22.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

63.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,570

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

15.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone3,843 (71.7%)
  • Worked At Home573 (10.7%)
  • Carpooled557 (10.4%)
  • Walked229 (4.3%)
  • Other108 (2.0%)
  • Bicycle37 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.