Traverse County, Minnesota

• White (non-Hispanic) 2,729 84.2%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 199 6.1%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 20 0.6%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 4 0.1%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 161 5.0%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 116 3.6%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 14 0.4%

• Under 18 702 21.6%
• 18–24 280 8.6%
• 25–44 606 18.7%
• 45–64 830 25.6%
• 65 and over 825 25.4%

Median household income

$68,666

90% interval $60,711–$76,621

−$18,454 vs MN · 73rd of 87

Below poverty line

13.1%

90% interval 10.0%–16.2%

+3.8 pp vs MN · 14th of 87

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.8%

−0.5 pp vs. state

County GDP

$347.5M

0.07% of state

Avg. annual pay

$50,161

Establishments

151

• Trade, transportation & utilities 313 30.8%
• Education & health services 313 30.8%
• Public administration 126 12.4%
• Natural resources & mining 87 8.6%
• Construction 5 0.5%
• Professional & business services 3 0.3%

The sectors listed cover 83.4% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

81.8%

+9.6 pp vs MN · 25th of 87

Median gross rent

$615

−$665 vs MN · 85th of 87

Owner-occupied

1,073

Renter-occupied

238

• Concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 74% 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.

• Compressed wage spread

  Highest-paid sector pays only 1.1× the lowest ($55,028 vs $48,800/yr), a relatively flat local wage distribution.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 6.7 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Small-sector pay

  The $69,589 average in Construction is BLS's published figure for 5 jobs. With so few jobs, a few high-paying employers or contracts can set the average, so it is left out of the wage-spread read.

• Republican 1,165 64.7%
• Democratic 597 33.1%
• Other / third-party 39 2.2%

• Spanish 155 5.1%
• German or other West Germanic 32 1.1%
• Tagalog 13 0.4%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 2 0.1%

Households

1,311

Family households

751

57.3% of households

Married couples w/ children

202

26.9% of families

Single-mother families

47

6.3% of families

Veterans

202

8% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 894 26.6%
• Catholic 739 22.0%
• Mainline Protestant 535 15.9%

Health insured

98.1%

±0.7 pp

Uninsured

1.9%

±0.7 pp

87th of 87

With a disability

17.2%

±2.6 pp

6th of 87

Bachelor's or higher

16.6%

±2.4 pp

−22.8 pp vs MN · 84th of 87

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

5.2%

90% interval 4.5%–5.9% · 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

78.71 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

2