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Polk County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its population was 31,192 at the 2020 census.[1] Its county seat is Crookston,[2] and the largest community is East Grand Forks.

Polk County
U.S. county
Polk County Government Center in Crookston
Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 47°46′N 96°24′W
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	July 20, 1858 (created) 1872 (organized)
Named for	James Knox Polk
Seat	Crookston
Largest city	East Grand Forks
Area
• Total	1,998 sq mi (5,170 km2)
• Land	1,971 sq mi (5,100 km2)
• Water	27 sq mi (70 km2)  1.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	31,192
• Estimate  (2021)	30,757
• Density	15.8/sq mi (6.1/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	7th
Website	www.co.polk.mn.us

Polk County is part of the Grand Forks, ND-MN metropolitan statistical area.

History

In one of its early acts as a state entity, the Minnesota Legislature created the county on July 20, 1858, but did not organize it at that time. The county was named for the 11th president of the United States, James Knox Polk, who signed the congressional act that organized the Minnesota Territory. The county was organized in 1872 and 1873, with the newly settled community of Crookston as the county seat.[3]

Geography

Polk County lies on Minnesota's border with North Dakota (across the Red River). The Red Lake River flows west through the upper central part of the county, discharging into the Red at Grand Forks. The county terrain consists of low, rolling hills, devoted to agriculture.[4] The county slopes to the west and north, with its highest point near its southeast corner, at 1,519 ft (463 m) above sea level.[5] The county has an area of 1,998 square miles (5,170 km²), of which 27 square miles (70 km²) (1.3%) is covered by water.[6]

USGS surveys show the county's high point to be 1575 ft, 1 km south of U.S. 2, about 2 km east of Spring Lake, at 47.5197°N, 95.5906°W.

Major highways

• Polk County State-Aid Highway 21: This is the major connector between Grand Forks and Pennington County, and connects with Pennington County State-Aid Highway 3.
• Polk County State-Aid Highway 9: A major connector between Crookston and the south end of Grand Forks, it connects with Grand Forks County Road 7, and functions as a southside connector between US 75 and US 2 in Crookston.
• Polk County State-Aid Highways 11 & 46: US 2 Truck Bypass of Crookston
• Polk County State-Aid Highway 2: Designated and designed for heavy truck traffic connecting US 2 to Roseau County and Marshall County.

Adjacent counties

Protected areas[4]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	11,433		—
1890	30,192		164.1%
1900	35,429		17.3%
1910	36,001		1.6%
1920	37,090		3.0%
1930	36,019		−2.9%
1940	37,734		4.8%
1950	35,900		−4.9%
1960	36,182		0.8%
1970	34,435		−4.8%
1980	34,844		1.2%
1990	32,498		−6.7%
2000	31,369		−3.5%
2010	31,600		0.7%
2020	31,192		−1.3%
2021 (est.)	30,757	[8]	−1.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790-1960[10] 1900-1990[11] 1990-2000[12] 2010-2020[1]

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census, 31,369 people, 12,070 households, and 8,050 families were in the county. The population density was 15.9/sq mi (6.14/km²). The 14,008 housing units had an average density of 7.11/sq mi (2.74/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.18% White, 0.33% African American, 1.30% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 2.77% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. About 4.79% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race; 41.7% were of Norwegian, 19.7% German, and 5.8% French ancestry.

Of the 12,070 households, 32.3% had children under 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were not families. About 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.47, and the average family size was 3.07.

The county's age distribution was 25.9% under 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 38. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 95.5 males.

The median income for a household was $35,105, and for a family was $44,310. Males had a median income of $31,472 versus $21,535 for females. The per capita income was $17,279. About 7.3% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those 65 or over.

2020 Census

Polk County Racial Composition[13]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	26,538	85.1%
Black or African American (NH)	958	3.1%
Native American (NH)	376	1.21%
Asian (NH)	156	0.5%
Pacific Islander (NH)	4	0.01%
Other/mixed (NH)	1,161	3.72%
Hispanic or Latino	1,999	6.41%

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Government and politics

Polk County has been a swing district for several decades. As of 2020, it has selected the Republican nominee in presidential elections in 56% of elections since 1980.

United States presidential election results for Polk County, Minnesota[14]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	9,865	63.26%	5,439	34.88%	290	1.86%
2016	8,979	60.69%	4,712	31.85%	1,105	7.47%
2012	7,615	51.83%	6,773	46.10%	305	2.08%
2008	7,148	46.62%	7,850	51.19%	336	2.19%
2004	8,724	55.68%	6,729	42.95%	215	1.37%
2000	7,609	53.81%	5,764	40.76%	767	5.42%
1996	5,563	40.94%	6,369	46.88%	1,655	12.18%
1992	5,817	38.95%	5,850	39.17%	3,267	21.88%
1988	7,032	47.96%	7,523	51.31%	107	0.73%
1984	8,617	54.60%	7,033	44.56%	132	0.84%
1980	9,036	51.21%	7,151	40.53%	1,457	8.26%
1976	6,552	40.86%	9,078	56.62%	404	2.52%
1972	8,139	51.24%	7,366	46.37%	380	2.39%
1968	6,074	40.04%	8,380	55.24%	715	4.71%
1964	5,039	31.28%	11,052	68.60%	20	0.12%
1960	7,528	44.52%	9,346	55.27%	35	0.21%
1956	6,847	46.10%	7,980	53.73%	26	0.18%
1952	8,326	53.09%	7,244	46.19%	113	0.72%
1948	4,662	31.98%	9,279	63.64%	639	4.38%
1944	4,402	33.07%	8,808	66.18%	100	0.75%
1940	5,200	32.53%	10,652	66.64%	133	0.83%
1936	3,751	24.30%	11,337	73.44%	349	2.26%
1932	3,604	27.32%	8,751	66.35%	835	6.33%
1928	7,215	56.08%	5,357	41.64%	294	2.29%
1924	5,027	43.94%	663	5.80%	5,750	50.26%
1920	8,197	69.47%	2,111	17.89%	1,492	12.64%
1916	2,471	37.93%	3,498	53.70%	545	8.37%
1912	735	12.79%	1,662	28.92%	3,350	58.29%
1908	3,311	55.21%	1,928	32.15%	758	12.64%
1904	3,549	71.71%	696	14.06%	704	14.23%
1900	2,863	49.62%	2,533	43.90%	374	6.48%
1896	2,855	35.39%	5,054	62.65%	158	1.96%
1892	1,376	23.35%	1,510	25.63%	3,006	51.02%

County Board of Commissioners[15]

Position		Name	District	Next Election
	Commissioner and vice chairperson	Gerald Jacobson	District 1	2020
	Commissioner	Warren Strandell	District 2	2022
	Commissioner and chairperson	Gary Willhite	District 3	2020
	Commissioner	Joan Lee	District 4	2022
	Commissioner	Don Diedrich	District 5	2020

State Legislature (2018-2020)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	Senate	Mark Johnson[16]	Republican	District 1
	House of Representatives	Deb Kiel[17]	Republican	District 1B

U.S Congress (2018-2020)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	House of Representatives	Michelle Fischbach[18]	Republican	7th
	Senate	Amy Klobuchar[19]	Democrat	N/A
	Senate	Tina Smith[20]	Democrat	N/A

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Polk County, Minnesota

References

Further reading

• R.I. Holcombe and William H Bingham, Compendium of History and Biography of Polk County, Minnesota. Minneapolis: W. H. Bingham & Co., 1916.
• Huber D. McLellan, The History of the Early Settlement and Development of Polk County, Minnesota. PhD dissertation. Northwestern University, 1928.
• Polk County Historical Society, Bicentennial History of Polk County, Minnesota: Pioneers of the Valley. n.c.: Polk County Historical Society, 1976.
• Polk County Historical Society, The Polk County Historian. (journal)
• Claude Eugene Wentsel, Polk County, Minnesota, in the World War. Ada, MN: C.E. Wentsel, 1922.
• Winger Golden Jubilee Historical Committee, Golden Jubilee, Winger, Minnesota, 1904-1954. Winger, MN: Winger Enterprise, n.d. [1954].
• Maxine Workman, Minnesota Cemeteries, Polk County. West Fargo, ND: Red River Genealogy Society, 1988.

External links

• Polk County official website

На других языках

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[de] Polk County (Minnesota)

Das Polk County[1] ist ein County im US-amerikanischen Bundesstaat Minnesota. Im Jahr 2010 hatte das County 31.600 Einwohner und eine Bevölkerungsdichte von 6,2 Einwohnern pro Quadratkilometer.[2] Der Verwaltungssitz (County Seat) ist Crookston.[3] Die größte Stadt im County ist East Grand Forks.

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- [en] Polk County, Minnesota

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[ru] Полк (округ, Миннесота)

Полк (англ. Polk County) — округ в штате Миннесота, США. Столица и крупнейший город — Крукстон. По оценочной переписи 2009 года в округе проживают 30 776 человек. Площадь — 5174 км², из которых 5103,1 км² — суша, а 70,9 км² — вода. Плотность населения составляет 6 чел./км².

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