county

Houston County, MN

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

AI Overview

Houston County is a small, largely rural southeastern Minnesota county of 18,768 residents with a minimal 0.6% population gain over five years and an unemployment rate of just 1.9%, pointing to a tight, stable labor pool. The workforce of roughly 65.2% participation skews older (median age 45.1) with 28.0% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings of $47,956 against a median home value of $226,300 and median gross rent of $881/month reflect relatively low operating and living costs. A poverty rate of 6.5% and homeownership rate of 84.1% indicate an established, settled resident base, while a GDP per capita of $31,849 sits below the $41,820 per capita income figure, suggesting significant income is earned outside locally measured output.

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

Population

18,768

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$79,825

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

45.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.6% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone17,487 (93.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races423 (2.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race375 (2.0%)
  • Asian Alone166 (0.9%)
  • Some Other Race Alone107 (0.6%)
  • Black or African American Alone50 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish211
  2. 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)157
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island130
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic52
  5. 5.Other Indo-European30

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

55.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

984

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$31,849

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$41,820

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

6.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,909
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,416
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,166
  4. 4.Construction (Group)914
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services493

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations3,971
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,643
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,535
  4. 4.Service Occupations1,265
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,224

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.47×)383
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.99×)444
  3. 3.Manufacturing (LQ 1.27×)1,222
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.25×)1,320
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.24×)831

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$226,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$881/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

83.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,179 (17.4%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999986 (14.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999638 (9.4%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999606 (8.9%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999541 (8.0%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999482 (7.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

28.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

65.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$47,956

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

23.8 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone7,130 (75.3%)
  • Worked At Home1,290 (13.6%)
  • Carpooled692 (7.3%)
  • Walked179 (1.9%)
  • Other102 (1.1%)
  • Public Transit30 (0.3%)

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.