Anoka County, Minnesota | |
|---|---|
 The Anoka County Courthouse and Government Center in downtown Anoka, July 2009 | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofMinnesota | |
 Minnesota's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:45°16′N93°14′W / 45.27°N 93.24°W /45.27; -93.24 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Minnesota |
| Founded | May 23, 1857[1] |
| Named after | City of Anoka |
| Seat | Anoka |
| Largest city | Blaine |
| Area | |
• Total | 446 sq mi (1,160 km2) |
| • Land | 423 sq mi (1,100 km2) |
| • Water | 23 sq mi (60 km2) 5.2% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 363,887 |
• Estimate (2024) | 376,840 |
| • Density | 862/sq mi (333/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional districts | 3rd,5th,6th |
| Website | www |
Anoka County (/əˈnoʊkə/ə-NOH-kə)[2] is thefourth-most populouscounty in theU.S. state ofMinnesota. As of the2020 census, its population was 363,887.[3] Thecounty seat and namesake of the county is the city ofAnoka,[4] which is derived from theDakota wordanoka, meaning "on (or from) both sides", referring to its location on bothbanks of theRum River.[5][6] The county's largest city isBlaine, the tenth-largest city in Minnesota and sixth-largestTwin Cities suburb.
Anoka County comprises the north portion of the Minneapolis–Saint Paulstatistical area, the state's largestmetropolitan area and the 16th-largest in the United States, with about 3.64 million residents.
The county is bordered by the counties ofIsanti on the north,Chisago andWashington on the east,Hennepin andRamsey on the south,Sherburne on the west, and theMississippi River on the southwest. The Rum River cuts through the county and was the site of many early European settlements. It was a common route to theMille Lacs Lake, the spiritual homeland of the Ojibwe people. FatherLouis Hennepin traveled the river in his first exploration of the region.[7] The area became a center of fur trade and logging as French and French Canadian communities grew in Anoka andCenterville.[8] Organized in 1857, the county's southern border eventually metMinneapolis and has become a predominantly suburban area sinceInterstate 35W was built. The county is home to destinations such as theHeights Theater inColumbia Heights andNorthtown Mall and theNational Sports Center inBlaine.
Anoka County was organized by an act of theMinnesota Territorial Legislature on May 23, 1857, the year beforeMinnesota's admission to the Union. It was formed from parts of Ramsey County andBenton County; the Rum River previously formed the line between the two counties. The boundaries were mainly the same as they are now, except for a small part of the southeastern tip along the Mississippi River and at the south, formerly known asManomin County. It was a small portion that connected to Ramsey and occupied one-third of the congressional township. It was attached to Anoka County by constitutional amendment on November 2, 1869, and became known as Fridley in 1879.
The first European descendants to explore what is now Anoka County were Franciscan friarLouis Hennepin and his party. Fur traders soon began to settle the area that is now Ramsey County. They settled on the Rum River and more people were attracted to the area now called Anoka.
The Mississippi River flows southeasterly along the county's southwestern boundary. The Rum River flows southerly through the western part of the county, discharging into the Mississippi at the county's southwestern boundary. The terrain consists of low, rolling, wooded hills.[10] The terrain slopes to the south and east; its highest point is a small hillock 1.2 miles (1.9 km) east of the county's northwest corner, at 1,100 ft (340 m) ASL.[11] Otherwise the terrain's highest point is along the western part of the north boundary line, at 1,083 ft (330 m) ASL.[12] The county has an area of 446 square miles (1,160 km2), of which 23 square miles (60 km2) (5.2%) are covered by water.[13]
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Anoka County has a hot-summerhumid continental climate zone (Dfa in theKöppen climate classification),[15] typical of southern parts of theUpper Midwest, and is situated in USDAplant hardiness zone 4b.[16][17][18] As is typical in a continental climate, the difference between average temperatures in the coldest winter month and the warmest summer month is great: 60.1 °F (33.4 °C). In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Anoka have ranged from 5 °F (−15 °C) in January to 81 °F (27 °C) in July. A record low of −50 °F (−46 °C) was recorded in January 2019 and a record high of 103 °F (39 °C) in July 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 0.87 inches (22 mm) in February to 4.45 inches (113 mm) in July.[14]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 2,106 | — | |
| 1870 | 3,940 | 87.1% | |
| 1880 | 7,108 | 80.4% | |
| 1890 | 9,884 | 39.1% | |
| 1900 | 11,313 | 14.5% | |
| 1910 | 12,493 | 10.4% | |
| 1920 | 15,626 | 25.1% | |
| 1930 | 18,415 | 17.8% | |
| 1940 | 22,443 | 21.9% | |
| 1950 | 35,579 | 58.5% | |
| 1960 | 85,916 | 141.5% | |
| 1970 | 154,712 | 80.1% | |
| 1980 | 195,998 | 26.7% | |
| 1990 | 243,641 | 24.3% | |
| 2000 | 298,084 | 22.3% | |
| 2010 | 330,844 | 11.0% | |
| 2020 | 363,887 | 10.0% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 376,840 | [19] | 3.6% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[20] 1790-1960[21] 1900-1990[22] 1990-2000[23] 2010-2020[3] | |||
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2010[24] | Pop 2020[25] | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 281,929 | 276,205 | 85.22% | 75.90% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 14,282 | 28,378 | 4.32% | 7.80% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 1,994 | 1,912 | 0.60% | 0.52% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 12,796 | 19,158 | 3.87% | 5.27% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 91 | 93 | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| Some other race alone (NH) | 378 | 1,401 | 0.11% | 0.39% |
| Mixed/multiracial (NH) | 7,354 | 17,234 | 2.22% | 4.74% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 12,020 | 19,506 | 3.63% | 5.36% |
| Total | 330,844 | 363,887 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
As of thecensus of 2010, 330,844 people were in the county.[26]
As of thecensus of 2000, 298,084 people, 106,428 households, and 79,395 families resided in the county. Thepopulation density was 705 per square mile (272/km2). The 108,091 housing units had an average density of 256 per square mile (99/km2).
At the time of the 2000 Census, theracial makeup of the county was 93.64% White, 1.60%African American, 0.70% Native American, 1.69%Asian, 0.67% from other races, and 1.71 percent from two or more races; 1.66% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. The 2000 Census found 30.2% were ofGerman, 14.3%Norwegian, 9.0%Swedish, 7.3%Irish, and 5.9%Polish ancestry.
Of the 106,428 households, 39.9% had children under 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were not families. About 19.3% were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.77, and the average family size was 3.19.
The county's age distribution was 28.9% under 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.10 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 99.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $57,754, and for a family was $64,261. Males had a median income of $41,527 versus $30,534 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $23,297. About 2.90% of families and 4.20% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 4.90% of those under age 18 and 4.50% of those age 65 or over.
Anoka County was once one of the most Democratic suburban counties in any metropolitan area nationwide and is one of the few to have trended Republican in the 21st century. On a national level, Anoka County has voted for the Republican presidential nominee since 2000, though with the margins remaining within 3% outside of 2004, 2016, and 2024. Incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor SenatorAmy Klobuchar defeatedJim Newberger by over 20,000 votes there in the 2018 midterms; Klobuchar also won the county in 2006, 2012, and 2024.[27] Republican nomineeKarin Housley narrowly defeated Democratic incumbentTina Smith in the concurrent Senate special election in 2018; Smith won the election by over 10 points. Incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor GovernorTim Walz also won Anoka County in his2018 gubernatorial bid by fewer than 300 votes, but the county flipped to Republican in the2022 gubernatorial election.[28]
As of April 2023:
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1892 | 1,002 | 52.76% | 720 | 37.91% | 177 | 9.32% |
| 1896 | 1,553 | 64.90% | 791 | 33.05% | 49 | 2.05% |
| 1900 | 1,511 | 70.87% | 555 | 26.03% | 66 | 3.10% |
| 1904 | 1,557 | 82.25% | 283 | 14.95% | 53 | 2.80% |
| 1908 | 1,577 | 68.99% | 610 | 26.68% | 99 | 4.33% |
| 1912 | 562 | 27.03% | 591 | 28.43% | 926 | 44.54% |
| 1916 | 1,262 | 48.95% | 1,171 | 45.42% | 145 | 5.62% |
| 1920 | 3,505 | 72.13% | 865 | 17.80% | 489 | 10.06% |
| 1924 | 3,146 | 57.15% | 458 | 8.32% | 1,901 | 34.53% |
| 1928 | 3,816 | 59.05% | 2,571 | 39.79% | 75 | 1.16% |
| 1932 | 2,718 | 38.00% | 4,253 | 59.47% | 181 | 2.53% |
| 1936 | 2,586 | 32.70% | 4,501 | 56.91% | 822 | 10.39% |
| 1940 | 4,302 | 43.53% | 5,501 | 55.66% | 80 | 0.81% |
| 1944 | 3,958 | 41.80% | 5,431 | 57.36% | 79 | 0.83% |
| 1948 | 3,853 | 32.30% | 7,730 | 64.80% | 346 | 2.90% |
| 1952 | 7,425 | 44.09% | 9,344 | 55.49% | 70 | 0.42% |
| 1956 | 9,359 | 44.37% | 11,697 | 55.46% | 36 | 0.17% |
| 1960 | 14,114 | 40.90% | 20,324 | 58.89% | 73 | 0.21% |
| 1964 | 13,201 | 29.33% | 31,714 | 70.47% | 90 | 0.20% |
| 1968 | 16,358 | 32.63% | 30,656 | 61.15% | 3,120 | 6.22% |
| 1972 | 29,546 | 49.77% | 28,031 | 47.22% | 1,783 | 3.00% |
| 1976 | 27,863 | 35.58% | 48,173 | 61.51% | 2,279 | 2.91% |
| 1980 | 33,100 | 37.68% | 45,532 | 51.83% | 9,211 | 10.49% |
| 1984 | 46,578 | 47.80% | 50,305 | 51.63% | 557 | 0.57% |
| 1988 | 46,853 | 44.28% | 57,953 | 54.77% | 1,003 | 0.95% |
| 1992 | 39,458 | 30.35% | 54,621 | 42.01% | 35,941 | 27.64% |
| 1996 | 41,745 | 33.66% | 63,756 | 51.41% | 18,521 | 14.93% |
| 2000 | 69,256 | 47.56% | 68,008 | 46.70% | 8,355 | 5.74% |
| 2004 | 91,853 | 52.77% | 80,226 | 46.09% | 1,987 | 1.14% |
| 2008 | 91,357 | 50.13% | 86,976 | 47.73% | 3,891 | 2.14% |
| 2012 | 93,430 | 50.11% | 88,614 | 47.52% | 4,421 | 2.37% |
| 2016 | 93,339 | 50.25% | 75,500 | 40.64% | 16,919 | 9.11% |
| 2020 | 104,902 | 49.69% | 100,893 | 47.79% | 5,337 | 2.53% |
| 2024 | 106,974 | 50.82% | 97,667 | 46.40% | 5,840 | 2.77% |
School districts include:[30]
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Municipalities and communities ofAnoka County, Minnesota,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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