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Minnesota News
Craig Helmstetter

Census: Pine County growing fastest, Dakota County gaining most

Hennepin County grows after losing population for the previous two years

map of pine county minnesota
Pine County is Minnesota's fastest growing county according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Matt Mikus | MPR News

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The population of east-central Minnesota’s Pine County grew by two and one-quarter percent from 2022 to 2023, making it the state’s fastest growing county according to estimates released by the Census Bureau today.

The Bureau’s new data shows that the state’s population overall barely changed, growing by 0.4 percent over the past year. According to the new estimates, 48 of the state’s counties grew and 39 lost population. Most county populations were fairly stable, with 73 of the 87 changing at a rate somewhere between -1 percent and +1 percent.

Only one other Minnesota county saw an estimated gain of more than 2 percent: Wright County, which was Minnesota’s fastest growing county according to last year’s estimates. The top five in estimated growth are rounded out by two counties between Pine and Wright, namely Sherburn and Isanti, as well as Stevens County in west central Minnesota.

Stevens County happens to neighbor the state’s fastest shrinking county: Traverse County —which lost 3.3 percent of its population 2022-23 according to the new estimates. The state’s far northern stovepipe, Lake of the Woods County, was the second fastest shrinking county, losing 2.8 percent of its population.

Percent change doesn’t tell the whole story, however. In terms of numeric change, Dakota County gained the most: adding 4,168. At the other end of the list, neighboring Ramsey County, home to the capital city St. Paul, lost 1,228 people.

These latest Census Bureau estimates show Dakota County, currently the state’s third largest county, creeping up on Ramsey, the state’s second largest. In 2020 the gap between the two was over 112,000, but consistent growth in suburban Dakota and consistent population loss in urban Ramsey have narrowed that gap to less than 89,000.

Hennepin County is still the state’s largest by a wide margin. The Census Bureau numbers show Hennepin County growing ever so slightly last year after losing population in both 2021 and 2022.

Twenty-two percent of the state’s population (5,737,915) now resides in Hennepin County, home to an estimated 1,258,713. This is about the same as the combined population of the state’s 66 smallest counties, ranging from Traverse County’s 3,136 people to Itasca County’s estimated population of 45,365, according to the Census Bureau.