Dakota County, Minnesota

• White (non-Hispanic) 324,220 72.7%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 38,684 8.7%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 34,141 7.7%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 23,061 5.2%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 22,412 5.0%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 754 0.2%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 125 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 2,374 0.5%

• Under 18 106,823 24.0%
• 18–24 34,512 7.7%
• 25–44 120,285 27.0%
• 45–64 113,364 25.4%
• 65 and over 70,787 15.9%

Median household income

$105,495

90% interval $102,219–$108,771

+$18,375 vs MN · 5th of 87

Below poverty line

7.1%

90% interval 6.3%–7.9%

−2.2 pp vs MN · 78th of 87

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.1%

−0.23 pp vs. state

County GDP

$37.1B

7.32% of state

Avg. annual pay

$74,673

Establishments

11,892

• Trade, transportation & utilities 46,518 24.6%
• Education & health services 42,166 22.3%
• Leisure & hospitality 20,185 10.7%
• Professional & business services 19,711 10.4%
• Manufacturing 19,244 10.2%
• Financial activities 11,387 6.0%
• Construction 10,680 5.6%
• Other services 7,151 3.8%
• Public administration 6,358 3.4%
• Information 4,510 2.4%
• Natural resources & mining 1,256 0.7%

Home ownership

74.9%

+2.7 pp vs MN · 64th of 87

Median gross rent

$1,548

+$268 vs MN · 3rd of 87

Owner-occupied

130,675

Renter-occupied

43,687

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 58% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Information, $122,817/yr) pays 2.5× the lowest (Other services, $48,174/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 16 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Democratic 143,267 55.4%
• Republican 109,995 42.5%
• Other / third-party 5,328 2.1%

• Spanish 23,549 5.6%
• Vietnamese 2,613 0.6%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 2,203 0.5%
• Tagalog 1,858 0.4%
• Chinese 1,817 0.4%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 1,384 0.3%
• German or other West Germanic 1,171 0.3%
• Arabic 650 0.2%
• Korean 433 0.1%

Households

174,362

Family households

117,503

67.4% of households

Married couples w/ children

38,706

32.9% of families

Single-mother families

10,025

8.5% of families

Veterans

20,077

5.9% of civilians 18+

• Catholic 103,731 23.6%
• Evangelical Protestant 62,559 14.2%
• Mainline Protestant 43,192 9.8%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 20,143 4.6%
• Orthodox 1,330 0.3%
• Black Protestant 202 0.0%

Health insured

95.8%

±0.4 pp

Uninsured

4.2%

±0.4 pp

60th of 87

With a disability

10.8%

±0.4 pp

76th of 87

Bachelor's or higher

45.0%

±0.8 pp

+5.6 pp vs MN · 7th of 87

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

5.2%

90% interval 4.8%–5.6% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

1st Judicial District Court

Judges

30 (District Court judges per judicial district; counts vintage 2026 mncourts.gov and may shift modestly as the Legislature reallocates seats between districts (Minn. Stat. § 2.724).)

Court seats

Chaska, Gaylord, Glencoe, Hastings, Le Center, Red Wing, Shakopee

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

23

6.79 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

19