Meeker County, Minnesota

• White (non-Hispanic) 21,649 92.2%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1,042 4.4%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 72 0.3%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 66 0.3%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 550 2.3%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 16 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 73 0.3%

• Under 18 5,522 23.5%
• 18–24 1,724 7.3%
• 25–44 5,245 22.3%
• 45–64 6,043 25.7%
• 65 and over 4,934 21.0%

Median household income

$75,367

90% interval $68,584–$82,150

−$11,753 vs MN · 38th of 87

Below poverty line

9.3%

90% interval 7.7%–10.9%

+0.0 pp vs MN · 58th of 87

Unemployment (12-mo)

5.1%

+0.77 pp vs. state

County GDP

$1.6B

0.31% of state

Avg. annual pay

$54,178

Establishments

701

• Manufacturing 1,920 24.5%
• Education & health services 1,788 22.8%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 1,561 19.9%
• Construction 532 6.8%
• Leisure & hospitality 484 6.2%
• Public administration 459 5.9%
• Professional & business services 415 5.3%
• Natural resources & mining 238 3.0%
• Other services 208 2.7%
• Financial activities 194 2.5%
• Information 39 0.5%

Home ownership

79.3%

+7.1 pp vs MN · 47th of 87

Median gross rent

$904

−$376 vs MN · 41st of 87

Owner-occupied

7,408

Renter-occupied

1,939

• Concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 67% of the county workforce. Most panelists likely share employer relationships within these sectors, surface those connections early in voir dire before any institutional-defendant or sector-specific framing.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $72,539/yr) pays 4.1× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $17,795/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 11 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Republican 9,645 70.7%
• Democratic 3,802 27.9%
• Other / third-party 200 1.5%

• Spanish 516 2.3%
• German or other West Germanic 64 0.3%
• Vietnamese 43 0.2%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 18 0.1%
• Chinese 7 0.0%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 6 0.0%
• Arabic 3 0.0%

Households

9,347

Family households

6,198

66.3% of households

Married couples w/ children

1,776

28.7% of families

Single-mother families

314

5.1% of families

Veterans

1,142

6.4% of civilians 18+

• Mainline Protestant 4,994 21.3%
• Catholic 3,736 16.0%
• Evangelical Protestant 2,350 10.0%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 123 0.5%

Health insured

93.4%

±0.9 pp

Uninsured

6.6%

±0.9 pp

13th of 87

With a disability

13.5%

±0.8 pp

36th of 87

Bachelor's or higher

19.9%

±1.5 pp

−19.5 pp vs MN · 69th of 87

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

6.3%

90% interval 5.6%–7.0% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

8th Judicial District Court

Judges

11 (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

Benson, Breckenridge, Elbow Lake, Glenwood, Granite Falls, Litchfield, Madison, Montevideo, Morris, Olivia, Ortonville, Wheaton, Willmar

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

2

11.14 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

2