Polk County, Minnesota

• White (non-Hispanic) 25,806 84.0%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2,122 6.9%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 604 2.0%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 247 0.8%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 1,443 4.7%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 198 0.6%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 2 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 283 0.9%

• Under 18 7,520 24.5%
• 18–24 2,452 8.0%
• 25–44 7,403 24.1%
• 45–64 7,468 24.3%
• 65 and over 5,862 19.1%

Median household income

$75,047

90% interval $69,619–$80,475

−$12,073 vs MN · 40th of 87

Below poverty line

13.2%

90% interval 11.2%–15.2%

+3.9 pp vs MN · 12th of 87

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.5%

+0.2 pp vs. state

County GDP

$1.7B

0.33% of state

Avg. annual pay

$56,767

Establishments

1,038

• Education & health services 3,727 31.1%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 2,207 18.4%
• Manufacturing 1,879 15.7%
• Leisure & hospitality 947 7.9%
• Public administration 868 7.2%
• Natural resources & mining 627 5.2%
• Construction 564 4.7%
• Professional & business services 371 3.1%
• Other services 332 2.8%
• Financial activities 292 2.4%
• Information 188 1.6%

Home ownership

71.3%

−0.9 pp vs MN · 75th of 87

Median gross rent

$855

−$425 vs MN · 56th of 87

Owner-occupied

8,809

Renter-occupied

3,551

• Concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 65% 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 (Construction, $87,668/yr) pays 4.4× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $20,097/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 12 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 10,162 66.0%
• Democratic 4,967 32.3%
• Other / third-party 258 1.7%

• Spanish 733 2.5%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 294 1.0%
• German or other West Germanic 291 1.0%
• Arabic 52 0.2%
• Chinese 28 0.1%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 27 0.1%
• Korean 14 0.0%
• Tagalog 10 0.0%

Households

12,360

Family households

7,791

63.0% of households

Married couples w/ children

2,477

31.8% of families

Single-mother families

600

7.7% of families

Veterans

1,426

6.2% of civilians 18+

• Mainline Protestant 6,993 22.4%
• Catholic 5,767 18.5%
• Evangelical Protestant 2,879 9.2%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 1,393 4.5%

Health insured

94.2%

±1.2 pp

Uninsured

5.8%

±1.2 pp

22nd of 87

With a disability

11.7%

±0.9 pp

61st of 87

Bachelor's or higher

28.0%

±2 pp

−11.4 pp vs MN · 30th 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

9th Judicial District Court

Judges

23 (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

Ada, Aitkin, Bagley, Baudette, Bemidji, Brainerd, Crookston, Grand Rapids, Hallock, International Falls, Mahnomen, Park Rapids, Red Lake Falls, Roseau, Thief River Falls, Walker, Warren

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

2

8.63 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

2