# Hennepin County, Minnesota *County in Minnesota, United States* Hennepin County is the most populous county in [[Minnesota]] and the 34th-most populous in the United States.[^2] The 2020 census counted 1,281,565 residents, and the July 1, 2025 estimate was 1,284,784.[^1] The county seat is [[Minneapolis]], the state's largest city and the 46th-largest city in the country.[^2] The county takes its name from [[Louis Hennepin]], a 17th-century explorer.[^2] The county holds more than 21.98% of Minnesota's population and is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul–Bloomington metropolitan statistical area.[^2] It reaches from Minneapolis through suburbs to outlying cities in its western portion, where woods, hills and lakes cover its natural areas.[^2] ## History Minnesota's Territorial [[Legislature]] created Hennepin County on March 6, 1852, and Minneapolis became the county seat two years after that.[^3] Hennepin's name was selected because he had given Saint Anthony Falls its name and had written some of the first accounts of the region for Western readers.[^3] The first bridge to span the [[Mississippi River]] went up at St. Anthony Falls in January 1855.[^3] Streams and rivers powered grist mills and sawmills across the county.[^3] By the late 1860s more than a dozen mills near St. Anthony Falls were producing lumber, and the county's population had passed 12,000.[^3] Rail lines linked Minneapolis with both the East and West coasts by 1883, and technical changes, particularly in flour milling, accelerated growth; the leading millers were Washburn, Pillsbury, Bell, Dunwoody and Crosby.[^3] Minneapolis reached a population of 165,000 by 1890, and for a decade it was the world's leading flour-milling center and among the largest lumber producers.[^3] After Minnesota counties gained the option in March 1915 to decide whether to permit alcohol sales, Hennepin County voted that October to become a wet county, by a margin of 9,000 votes.[^3] ## Geography The [[United States Census Bureau]] reports a total area of 606.749 square miles (1,571.47 km²): 554.019 square miles of land and 52.730 square miles of water, or 8.69%.[^4] By total area the county ranks 60th in Minnesota.[^4] It is one of 17 Minnesota counties where savanna soils outweigh both prairie and forest soils, and one of two, with neighboring Wright County, where savanna soils cover more than 75% of the area.[^4] Saint Anthony Falls, the tallest waterfall on the Mississippi, sits beside downtown Minneapolis; in the 19th century the falls were converted into a series of dams, and vessels now use locks to travel between the upper and lower river.[^4] The county borders Anoka County to the northeast, Ramsey to the east, Dakota to the southeast, Scott to the south, Carver to the southwest, Wright to the northwest and Sherburne to the north.[^4] Portions of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area lie inside it.[^4] ## Demographics The 2023 American Community Survey estimated 534,573 households in the county, with an average size of 2.32 persons, and a median household income of $96,339; about 10.1% of residents lived at or below the poverty line.[^5] The same survey put the employment rate at an estimated 71.4%, with 94.0% of the population holding a high school diploma and 53.3% a bachelor's degree or higher.[^5] The median home value stood at $398,850 in the third quarter of 2024.[^5] German, Irish, English, Norwegian and Swedish are the most commonly reported ancestries.[^5] ## Law and government Hennepin, in common with every Minnesota county, elects a nonpartisan board of commissioners.[^6] Its board has seven members, as do the boards of Ramsey, Dakota, Anoka and St. Louis counties, while most Minnesota county boards have five; each commissioner represents a district of roughly equal population, and the board elects a chair to preside at meetings.[^6] The board appoints the [[medical examiner]], the county auditor-treasurer and the county recorder, while the [[sheriff]] and [[county attorney]] are chosen in nonpartisan elections.[^6] County government is headquartered at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.[^6] The county oversees the Hennepin County Library, which absorbed the Minneapolis Public Library system in 2008, and Hennepin County Medical Center.[^6] County Administrator David Hough coordinates day-to-day operations.[^6] The [[Hennepin County Sheriff]], Dawanna Witt, was elected in 2022. The office runs the county jail, patrols waterways, provides security for the District Court and handles home foreclosures; state law also assigns it applications from county residents for permits to carry a firearm.[^6] ## Politics Hennepin County has backed the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1964 except 1972, when Richard Nixon carried it amid a national landslide.[^7] It has also matched Minnesota's statewide presidential result in every election since 1964, the longest such run of any county in the state.[^7] Joe Biden took 70% of the county's vote in 2020, the highest share for any candidate since 1904.[^7] In statewide races, the most recent Republicans to win the county were [[Arne Carlson]], for [[governor]], in 1994, and David Durenberger, for U.S. Senate, in 1988.[^7] ## Transportation [[Interstate 94]] and Interstates 35W, 394, 494 and 694 cross the county, along with U.S. Highways 12, 52, 169 and 212 and numerous state and county routes.[^8] Transit operators include [[Metro Transit]], the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, Maple Grove Transit, Plymouth Metrolink and Southwest Transit.[^8] Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), which serves the Twin Cities area and is a Delta Air Lines hub, ranks 17th among U.S. airports by passenger traffic; Crystal Airport in Crystal and Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie are public airports.[^8] ## Economy Twelve Fortune 500 companies had headquarters in the county as of 2018, five of them in Minneapolis.[^9] The private companies Carlson and Cargill are based in Minnetonka; Cargill is the largest privately owned company in the United States.[^9] The 2016 American Community Survey identified health care and social assistance (96,511 workers), manufacturing (80,324) and retail trade (75,861) as the largest industries.[^9] The same 2016 survey reported an average household income of $71,200 and a Gini index of 0.461, below the national 0.485.[^9] As of 2016, nearly 132,000 residents, or 10.9% of the population, lived under the poverty line, against a national rate of 14%; the 2023 survey's figure, given above, is 10.1%.[^9] ## Education Higher-education institutions in the county include the [[University of Minnesota]] Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis, Augsburg University, Dunwoody College of Technology, Hennepin Technical College, Normandale Community College, North Hennepin Community College, the University of St. Thomas Minneapolis campus and a Twin Cities campus of [[St. Cloud State University]] in Plymouth.[^10] School districts serving the county include [[Minneapolis Public Schools]], [[Edina Public Schools]], Anoka-Hennepin School District 11, Osseo Area School District 279, Wayzata Public Schools and [[Waconia Public Schools]].[^10] ## Recreation The independently elected Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board runs the Minneapolis park system, which the Trust for Public Land ranked first in the country for five consecutive years as of 2017.[^11] The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway connects many of those parks along 51 miles in seven districts.[^11] Beyond Minneapolis, the Three Rivers Park District maintains 20 parks and 10 trails across the metro area under seven commissioners, five elected by residents and two appointed by the Hennepin County board.[^11] ## Cities Minneapolis is the county seat and largest municipality; other cities include Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Eden Prairie, Edina, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Plymouth and St. Louis Park, while Chanhassen, Dayton, Hanover, Rockford and St. Anthony lie partly within the county.[^12] [[Fort Snelling]] is the county's unorganized territory.[^12] ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Census Bureau, *QuickFacts: Hennepin County, Minnesota* (July 1, 2025 estimate) — population 1,281,565 at the April 1, 2020 census and 1,284,784 at the July 1, 2025 estimate. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/hennepincountyminnesota/PST045224 [^2]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, lead (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — population rank, county seat, namesake, share of state population, metropolitan area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^3]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "History" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — 1852 establishment, 1855 bridge, milling era, 1890 population, 1915 alcohol vote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^4]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Geography" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25), citing the United States Census Bureau — area figures, rank, soils, falls, adjacent counties, protected areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^5]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Demographics" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — 2023 ACS household, income, poverty, employment and education figures; 2024 median home value; ancestries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^6]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Law and government" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — board structure, appointed and elected offices, headquarters, library merger, administrator, sheriff's duties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^7]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Politics" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — presidential voting record since 1964, 2020 result, last Republican statewide winners in the county. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^8]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Transportation" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — highways, transit operators, airports. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^9]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Economy" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — 2018 Fortune 500 count, private companies, 2016 ACS industry, income, Gini and poverty figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^10]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Education" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — colleges, universities and school districts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^11]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Recreation" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Minneapolis park board, Trust for Public Land ranking, Grand Rounds, Three Rivers Park District. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota [^12]: Wikipedia, *Hennepin County, Minnesota*, "Cities" (revision 1376621331, retrieved 2026-10-25) — municipalities and unorganized territory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_County,_Minnesota