# Stearns County, Minnesota *County in the U.S. state of Minnesota* Stearns County lies in central [[Minnesota]]. The 2020 census counted 158,292 residents. [[St. Cloud]] is both its largest city and its county seat.[^1] The area was part of the [[Minnesota Territory]] from 1849, and European American settlers founded the county in 1855. It was meant to be named for Isaac Ingalls Stevens but was instead named for Charles Thomas Stearns.[^1] The county belongs to the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area. That area in turn falls within the [[Minneapolis]]–Saint Paul Combined Statistical Area.[^1] ## History Before settlement the land was home to several indigenous peoples, among them the [[Dakota]], the Ojibwe and the Ho-chunk. German Catholics made up the first large wave of immigrants in the 1850s. Other early settlers came from the eastern states.[^2] Congress established the Minnesota Territory with effect from March 3, 1849. In October of that year the territorial [[Legislature]] organized nine counties. Cass County was carved from them in 1851, and Sibley, Pierce and Nicollet counties in 1853. Stearns County was formed from parts of those counties in 1855.[^2] The intended name was Stevens County, after territorial [[governor]] Isaac Ingalls Stevens, who had led an expedition through the area in 1853. A clerical error instead gave the county the name of Charles Thomas Stearns, who sat on the Territorial Council. A county two counties to the west later received the Stevens name to make up for the mistake.[^2] The act of February 20, 1855, that created the county called for three county commissioners to be named and fixed St. Cloud as the county seat.[^2] The Wikipedia article quotes historian Marilyn J. Chiat (1997). Chiat wrote that Father Francis X. Pierz, a missionary in central Minnesota, published articles in German Catholic newspapers in 1851 urging Catholic settlement of the region. Many immigrants answered, chiefly German but also Slovenian and Polish, and more than 20 parishes were formed in what is now Stearns County.[^2] ## Geography Stearns County shares borders with nine counties. The [[Mississippi River]] runs southeast along its northeastern edge. The Sauk River drains the middle of the county and joins the Mississippi at St. Cloud.[^3] The county covers 1,390 square miles. Of that, 1,343 square miles is land and 47 square miles (3.4%) is water.[^3] The ground falls away toward the east and south. The highest point, at 1,461 feet above sea level, lies 7.6 miles west and 1.6 miles south of St. Joseph.[^3] There are 166 lakes in the county. It is one of 17 Minnesota savanna-region counties in which savanna soils outnumber both prairie and forest soils.[^3] Highways crossing the county include [[Interstate 94]], U.S. Highways 52 and 71, and a number of Minnesota state highways. Four municipal or regional airports serve it: Brooten, Paynesville, Sauk Centre and St. Cloud.[^3] ## Communities The county contains 31 cities, some of them only partly. Among them are St. Cloud (partly), [[Cold Spring]], [[Sauk Centre]], [[Waite Park]], Melrose, Paynesville and part of Sartell.[^4] The Wikipedia list also gives two census-designated places (Fairhaven and St. John's University), twelve unincorporated communities and 34 townships.[^4] ## Demographics At the 2020 census the median age was 36.5 years. Residents under 18 made up 23.6% of the population, and those 65 or older made up 16.1%. Urban areas held 62.0% of residents and rural areas 38.0%.[^5] The census recorded the following racial makeup: 82.7% White, 8.4% Black or African American, 2.0% Asian, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.2% some other race, and 4.2% two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race made up 4.4%.[^5] There were 60,448 households in 2020, and 50.3% of them were married couples. Of the 65,684 housing units, 8.0% were vacant. Owners occupied 68.8% of occupied units.[^5] The 2000 census had counted 133,166 people, 47,604 households and 32,132 families.[^5] ## Politics and government In its early years Stearns County voted heavily Democratic. Its largely German Catholic population stood against the pietistic Scandinavian Lutheran [[Republican Party (United States)]] of that period. Its first Republican vote came in 1904, when Theodore Roosevelt carried every county in the state.[^6] The Wikipedia article ties the county's swing to Warren G. Harding in 1920 to anti-Woodrow Wilson feeling left over from World War I. The county then supported Robert M. La Follette, Al Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1936 it gave strong backing to William Lemke's Union Party.[^6] The source places the county in the Republican column after that until John F. Kennedy won it back. It also says the county was among only 130 counties nationwide to back George McGovern in 1972.[^6] Since the "Reagan Revolution" the county has voted reliably Republican. No Democrat has won a majority there since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Bill Clinton, in 1996, is the only Democrat since then to win a plurality.[^6] Donald Trump took 59.8% of the county's vote in 2016, the highest share for any presidential candidate since [[Dwight Eisenhower]] in 1956. He reached 60.1% in 2020.[^6] As of 2024, St. Cloud is the one city in the county that leans Democratic.[^6] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stearns County, Minnesota*, lead section (revision 1380304027, retrieved 2026-10-25) — 2020 population, county seat, founding in 1855, naming, and metropolitan area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns_County,_Minnesota [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stearns County, Minnesota*, History section (revision 1380304027, retrieved 2026-10-25) — indigenous peoples, territorial and county creation dates, naming error, the 1855 act, and the Chiat quotation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns_County,_Minnesota [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stearns County, Minnesota*, Geography section (revision 1380304027, retrieved 2026-10-25) — borders, rivers, area, highest point, lakes, soils, highways and airports. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns_County,_Minnesota [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stearns County, Minnesota*, Communities section (revision 1380304027, retrieved 2026-10-25) — lists of cities, census-designated places, unincorporated communities and townships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns_County,_Minnesota [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stearns County, Minnesota*, Demographics section (revision 1380304027, retrieved 2026-10-25) — 2020 and 2000 census figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns_County,_Minnesota [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stearns County, Minnesota*, Politics and government section (revision 1380304027, retrieved 2026-10-25) — presidential voting history through 2020 and 2024 city lean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearns_County,_Minnesota