Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | |
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 Location within the U.S. state ofMinnesota | |
| Coordinates:45°56′N93°38′W / 45.93°N 93.63°W /45.93; -93.63 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Minnesota |
| Founded | May 23, 1857 |
| Named after | Mille Lacs Lake |
| Seat | Milaca |
| Largest city | Princeton |
| Area | |
• Total | 682 sq mi (1,770 km2) |
| • Land | 572 sq mi (1,480 km2) |
| • Water | 109 sq mi (280 km2) 16% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 26,459 |
• Estimate (2024) | 27,577 |
| • Density | 46.3/sq mi (17.9/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 8th |
| Website | www |
Mille Lacs County (/məˈlæks/mə-LAKS) is acounty in the East Central part of theU.S. state ofMinnesota. As of the2020 census, the population was 26,459.[1] Itscounty seat isMilaca.[2] The county was founded in 1857, and its boundary was expanded in 1860.[3][4]
Mille Lacs County is included in theMinneapolis-St. PaulMetropolitan Statistical Area.
A portion of theMille Lacs Indian Reservation is in the county.
The nameMille Lacs, meaning "thousand lakes" inFrench, was associated withMille Lacs Lake in the region. (Its full name in French wasGrand lac du pays des mille lacs.) This is the largest lake in the Brainerd Lakes Area, which French colonists and traders called the "Region of the Thousand Lakes" (Pays des mille lacs).[5]
The US legislature established theWisconsin Territory effective July 3, 1836. It existed until its eastern portion was granted statehood (asWisconsin) in 1848. The federal government set up theMinnesota Territory from the remaining territory effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. On May 23, 1857, one of those original counties,Benton, had its eastern portion partitioned off to create Mille Lacs County. The original county consisted of the portion of the contemporary Mille Lacs County east of the west branch of theRum River and two townships now part ofIsanti County, adjacent to Mille Lacs County. In 1858 the 12 townships forming the contemporary southern 10 townships of Mille Lacs County and the two northwestern townships in Isanti County were organized apart from Benton and Mille Lacs Counties to form Monroe County, leaving the northern "Square Top-knot" as Mille Lacs County. In 1860, Monroe and Mille Lacs Counties merged. Shortly thereafter, the two southeastern townships were transferred to Isanti County, forming the county's present boundaries.
TheRum River flows south through the county, originating fromMille Lacs Lake. It is joined by the West Branch of the Rum River, which rises in northwest Mille Lacs County and flows south-southeast to its confluence with the Rum atPrinceton. The county terrain consists of wooded rolling hills, carved by drainages, with open areas devoted to agriculture.[6] The terrain slopes to the south and east,[7] with its highest point at one mile (1.6 km) from the southwest shoreline ofMille Lacs Lake, inMille Lacs Kathio State Park. A hill there measures 1,371 ft (418 m) ASL.[8]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 682 square miles (1,770 km2), of which 572 square miles (1,480 km2) is land[9] and 109 square miles (280 km2) (16%) is water.[10]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 73 | — | |
| 1870 | 1,109 | 1,419.2% | |
| 1880 | 1,501 | 35.3% | |
| 1890 | 2,845 | 89.5% | |
| 1900 | 8,066 | 183.5% | |
| 1910 | 10,705 | 32.7% | |
| 1920 | 14,180 | 32.5% | |
| 1930 | 14,076 | −0.7% | |
| 1940 | 15,558 | 10.5% | |
| 1950 | 15,165 | −2.5% | |
| 1960 | 14,560 | −4.0% | |
| 1970 | 15,703 | 7.9% | |
| 1980 | 18,430 | 17.4% | |
| 1990 | 18,670 | 1.3% | |
| 2000 | 22,330 | 19.6% | |
| 2010 | 26,097 | 16.9% | |
| 2020 | 26,459 | 1.4% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 27,577 | [11] | 4.2% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[12] 1790-1960[13] 1900-1990[14] 1990-2000[15] 2010-2020[1] | |||
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 26,459. The median age was 41.7 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.6 males age 18 and over.[16][17]
The racial makeup of the county was 88.0%White, 0.3%Black or African American, 5.7%American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Asian, <0.1%Native Hawaiian andPacific Islander, 0.7% from some other race, and 4.8% fromtwo or more races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.8% of the population.[17]
18.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 81.8% lived in rural areas.[18]
There were 10,593 households in the county, of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.7% were married-couple households, 19.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[16]
There were 12,786 housing units, of which 17.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 76.4% were owner-occupied and 23.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.3%.[16]
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White (NH) | 17,947 | 87.42% |
| Black or African American (NH) | 78 | 0.3% |
| Native American (NH) | 1,466 | 5.54% |
| Asian (NH) | 124 | 0.47% |
| Pacific Islander (NH) | 6 | 0.02% |
| Other/Mixed (NH) | 1,173 | 4.43% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 481 | 1.82% |
As of thecensus of 2000, there were 22,330 people, 8,638 households, and 6,003 families in the county. Thepopulation density was 39.0 per square mile (15.1/km2). There were 10,467 housing units at an average density of 18.3 per square mile (7.1/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 93.55%White, 0.27%Black orAfrican American, 4.68%Native American, 0.21%Asian, 0.01%Pacific Islander, 0.22% fromother races, and 1.05% from two or more races. 0.96% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 31.9% were ofGerman, 14.4%Swedish and 14.2%Norwegian ancestry.
There were 8,638 households, out of which 32.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% weremarried couples living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 25.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.03.
The county population contained 27.00% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,977, and the median income for a family was $44,054. Males had a median income of $32,348 versus $22,036 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $17,656. About 6.70% of families and 9.60% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 10.90% of those under age 18 and 11.30% of those age 65 or over.
Mille Lacs County voters have traditionally voted a balanced ticket, but in the past few decades have become strongly Republican. Since 1980 the county selected the Republican Party candidate in 67% of national elections (as of 2020), and has done so in every election beginning in 2000.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1892 | 463 | 56.05% | 223 | 27.00% | 140 | 16.95% |
| 1896 | 977 | 66.78% | 456 | 31.17% | 30 | 2.05% |
| 1900 | 1,072 | 71.42% | 358 | 23.85% | 71 | 4.73% |
| 1904 | 1,451 | 83.87% | 154 | 8.90% | 125 | 7.23% |
| 1908 | 1,119 | 61.96% | 427 | 23.64% | 260 | 14.40% |
| 1912 | 392 | 19.55% | 449 | 22.39% | 1,164 | 58.05% |
| 1916 | 1,127 | 44.58% | 1,113 | 44.03% | 288 | 11.39% |
| 1920 | 3,521 | 73.17% | 526 | 10.93% | 765 | 15.90% |
| 1924 | 2,413 | 48.79% | 167 | 3.38% | 2,366 | 47.84% |
| 1928 | 3,998 | 72.01% | 1,436 | 25.86% | 118 | 2.13% |
| 1932 | 1,986 | 34.03% | 3,538 | 60.62% | 312 | 5.35% |
| 1936 | 2,091 | 33.62% | 3,767 | 60.56% | 362 | 5.82% |
| 1940 | 3,459 | 48.37% | 3,619 | 50.61% | 73 | 1.02% |
| 1944 | 2,798 | 49.03% | 2,872 | 50.32% | 37 | 0.65% |
| 1948 | 2,502 | 41.43% | 3,343 | 55.36% | 194 | 3.21% |
| 1952 | 3,766 | 58.42% | 2,639 | 40.94% | 41 | 0.64% |
| 1956 | 3,315 | 55.80% | 2,619 | 44.08% | 7 | 0.12% |
| 1960 | 3,913 | 57.29% | 2,886 | 42.25% | 31 | 0.45% |
| 1964 | 2,474 | 36.00% | 4,369 | 63.58% | 29 | 0.42% |
| 1968 | 2,990 | 43.40% | 3,494 | 50.71% | 406 | 5.89% |
| 1972 | 4,291 | 55.83% | 3,221 | 41.91% | 174 | 2.26% |
| 1976 | 3,212 | 37.05% | 5,172 | 59.65% | 286 | 3.30% |
| 1980 | 3,860 | 42.83% | 4,443 | 49.30% | 710 | 7.88% |
| 1984 | 4,307 | 51.45% | 4,011 | 47.92% | 53 | 0.63% |
| 1988 | 3,862 | 46.52% | 4,327 | 52.13% | 112 | 1.35% |
| 1992 | 2,814 | 30.74% | 3,648 | 39.85% | 2,692 | 29.41% |
| 1996 | 2,948 | 33.22% | 4,336 | 48.86% | 1,591 | 17.93% |
| 2000 | 5,223 | 50.94% | 4,376 | 42.68% | 654 | 6.38% |
| 2004 | 7,194 | 55.06% | 5,677 | 43.45% | 194 | 1.48% |
| 2008 | 7,049 | 52.05% | 6,072 | 44.83% | 423 | 3.12% |
| 2012 | 6,951 | 53.10% | 5,829 | 44.53% | 311 | 2.38% |
| 2016 | 8,340 | 64.07% | 3,710 | 28.50% | 967 | 7.43% |
| 2020 | 9,952 | 67.75% | 4,404 | 29.98% | 333 | 2.27% |
| 2024 | 10,570 | 69.59% | 4,374 | 28.80% | 246 | 1.62% |
School districts include:[20]
Places adjacent to Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofMille Lacs County, Minnesota,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Townships | ||
| CDP | ||
| Other communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
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