# Scott County, Minnesota *County in Minnesota, United States* Scott County lies in the U.S. state of [[Minnesota]]. Its seat is [[Shakopee]]. The 2020 census counted 150,928 residents.[^1] The county was organized in 1853 and takes its name from General Winfield Scott.[^1] It belongs to the [[Minneapolis]]–St. Paul–Bloomington, MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is also a member of the [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]], and it shares the council's interest in managing growth through clustering, open-space design, and the preservation of rural and agricultural land.[^1] The Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation lies wholly inside the county, within the cities of [[Prior Lake]] and Shakopee. Its location close to the major cities has allowed the tribe to earn revenue from its gaming casinos and hotel. The tribe has put those funds into its own economic development and into other initiatives.[^2] In the 19th century, the [[Minnesota River]] supported fur trading, lumbering and farming in the county. Commercial, industrial and housing development has since grown, but the county remains mainly rural.[^3] Its destinations include Canterbury Park, The Landing, [[Minnesota's Largest Candy Store]], [[Elko Speedway]], Mystic Lake Casino (run by the Shakopee-Mdewakanton Dakota), the Renaissance Festival and [[Valleyfair]].[^3] The county was strongly Democratic in its early decades and first voted Republican in 1904. No Democratic presidential candidate has won a majority of its vote since 1976.[^11] ## History The first inhabitants of the area were two [[Dakota]] (Santee Sioux) bands, the [[Mdewakanton]] and the Wahpeton. They followed a semi-nomadic seasonal cycle of gathering, hunting, fishing and corn planting. They kept many permanent villages along the Minnesota River, occupied in summer, and dispersed to hunt in winter.[^4] Trails ran from the villages to the [[Red River Valley]] in the north and to Prairie du Chien in the southeast. Fur traders and settlers later used these routes, which became known as the "ox cart trails."[^4] Treaties signed at [[Mendota]] and [[Traverse des Sioux]] in 1851 and 1853 opened the area, and much of southern Minnesota, to settlement. The same treaties removed the Dakota to reservations in upper Minnesota.[^4] An Act of the legislature passed on March 5, 1853, established and organized the county. The History section of the cited article gives its area as 369 square miles (960 km²). The Geography section, citing the [[United States Census Bureau]], gives 368 square miles (950 km²).[^5] Settlement began in the mid-1850s. Yankees came first, followed by Germans, Irish, Czechs and Scandinavians, and most of them took up farming.[^5] The river and the ox cart trails were the main transportation routes until the railroads became dominant.[^5] Shakopee began in 1851 as a trading post beside the Dakota village of Chief Shakopee (or Shakpay). Other towns grew up along transportation routes.[^5] ## Geography According to the Census Bureau, the county covers 368 square miles. Of this, 356 square miles (920 km²) is land and 12 square miles (31 km²), or 3.2%, is water. By land area it ranks as Minnesota's third-smallest county, and by total area as its second-smallest.[^6] The Minnesota River marks both the northern and the western boundary. Its broad valley cuts through glacial sediment into some of the oldest rock known.[^6] Most of the land is now farmed. It was once oak savanna, a mix of grass and tree clusters running parallel to the river valley, that bordered the [[Big Woods]]. The Big Woods was a "closed-forest savanna" logged in the mid-19th century.[^6] Scott is one of 17 Minnesota savanna counties, where savanna soils outnumber both forest and prairie soils.[^6] The county's lakes are spread among its townships. They include Ahlswede and Browns lakes in St. Lawrence Township, Blue Lake in Jackson Township, and Crystal Lake in Spring Lake Township. Cleary Lake lies mostly in Credit River, and a larger Cedar Lake is split between Helena and Cedar Lake townships.[^7] ## Demographics The 2020 census counted 150,928 people, with a median age of 37.5 years. Of these, 27.1% were under 18 and 11.7% were 65 or older. There were 98.5 males for every 100 females, and 97.0 males for every 100 females among adults.[^8] The census recorded the county as 77.7% White and 6.6% Asian. It recorded 5.4% as Black or African American, 1.1% as American Indian and Alaska Native, and under 0.1% as Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. A further 2.9% were of some other race and 6.2% of two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race made up 6.0%.[^8] Urban areas held 81.9% of residents and rural areas held 18.1%.[^8] The census counted 52,645 households, 39.7% of them with children under 18. Married couples made up 60.8% of households, and 18.7% consisted of individuals.[^9] Of 54,658 housing units, 3.7% were vacant. Owners occupied 81.3% of occupied units and renters 18.7%. The vacancy rate was 0.8% for homeowner units and 6.0% for rental units.[^9] ## Communities The county's cities are Belle Plaine, Credit River, [[Elko New Market]], [[Jordan]], New Prague (partly in Le Sueur County), Prior Lake, [[Savage]] and Shakopee, the county seat.[^10] Its townships are Belle Plaine, Blakeley, Cedar Lake, Helena, Jackson, Louisville, New Market, Sand Creek, Spring Lake and St. Lawrence. Its unincorporated communities are Blakeley, Cedar Lake, Helena, Lydia, Marystown, Mudbaden, Spring Lake, St. Benedict, St. Patrick and Union Hill.[^10] ## Politics In its early history the county voted heavily Democratic. Its largely German Catholic population opposed the Republican Party of that era, whose base was Scandinavian Lutheran.[^11] The county did not vote Republican until 1904, when Theodore Roosevelt carried every county in Minnesota. Opposition to Woodrow Wilson after World War I moved it strongly to Warren G. Harding in 1920.[^11] It then supported Robert La Follette, Al Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1936 it gave a large vote to William Lemke's Union Party.[^11] Apart from Harry Truman in 1948, the county voted Republican until John F. Kennedy, a Catholic nominee, brought it back to the Democrats.[^11] Since the 1980s it has voted solidly Republican. No Democrat has won a majority of its vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976, although Carter in 1980 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 won pluralities.[^11] Mitt Romney carried the county in 2012. In the same election, its voters rejected a proposed amendment to the [[Minnesota Constitution]] that would have banned same-sex marriage.[^11] At the federal level, the county is represented in the U.S. House by [[Angie Craig]] (D, MN-2).[^12] Its state senators are [[Rich Draheim]] (R, SD-20), [[Eric Pratt]] (R, SD-54) and [[Lindsey Port]] (DFL, SD-55). Its state representatives are [[Brian Pfarr]] (R, HD-20A), [[Brad Tabke]] (DFL, HD-54A), [[Ben Bakeberg]] (R, HD-54B) and [[Jessica Hanson]] (DFL, HD-55A).[^12] The county lies in the First Judicial District of the Minnesota District Court. Ron Hocevar heads the County Attorney's Office.[^12] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), lead section — 2020 population, county seat, 1853 organization, naming, metropolitan area and Metropolitan Council membership. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), lead section — Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation location and tribal gaming revenue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), lead section — 19th-century industries, present development, and destinations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "History" section — Dakota inhabitants, trails, and the 1851 and 1853 treaties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "History" section — March 5, 1853 Act, 369-square-mile figure, settlement, transportation and Shakopee's origin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Geography" section — Census Bureau area figures, river boundaries, savanna history and soils. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Geography" section, "Lakes" — lakes and their townships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Demographics" section — 2020 census population, age, sex ratio, racial composition and urban/rural split. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Demographics" section — 2020 census households and housing units. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Communities" section — cities, townships and unincorporated communities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Politics" section — presidential voting history and the 2012 marriage amendment vote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Scott County, Minnesota* (revision 1375334471, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Politics" section — federal and state legislators, judicial district and county attorney. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_County,_Minnesota