Jury Pool Profile

Wright County, Minnesota

Republican +29.4 (2024)

County seat: Buffalo
Judicial district: 10th Judicial District Court
Population (July 2025 estimate): 157,559; Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 148,269.

At a glance

Wright County is a 157,559-person venue. The county population is 89% White (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $102,130, $15,010 above the MN state median of $87,120; 34.4% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 6.0% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly Spanish and Russian, Polish, or other Slavic. The largest employment sector is Education & health services, at 23.8% of covered employment, average pay $52,833/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 4.42%, above the 4.31% state average. The county carried the Republican presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 63% to 64% of the vote across the three.

Population: 148,269
Median household income: $107,209
Unemployment: 4.4%

Who sits on a jury?

Predominantly White

≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 89% / 2%.

Wright County has a population of 148,269, with a median age of 37.6. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 88.6%; Black residents 2.3%. Independently, 3.6% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The median household earns $102,130; 34.4% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 6.2% live below the federal poverty line.

Race & ethnicity

White (non-Hispanic) 130,548 88.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 5,389 3.6%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 3,438 2.3%
Asian (non-Hispanic) 2,682 1.8%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 5,463 3.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 267 0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
Some other race (non-Hispanic) 482 0.3%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Age distribution

Median age 37.6

Under 18 40,305 27.2%
18–24 10,807 7.3%
25–44 39,109 26.4%
45–64 37,657 25.4%
65 and over 20,391 13.8%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Income & poverty

Median household income: $102,130; 90% interval $96,691–$107,569; +$15,010 vs MN · 6th of 87
Below poverty line: 6.2%; 90% interval 5.2%–7.2%; −3.1 pp vs MN · 83rd of 87

U.S. Census SAIPE 2024

Economic context

Led by healthcare & education and trade & transportation

Largest sector in BLS QCEW: Education & health services, 11,721 jobs; Trade, transportation & utilities, 11,574, is within 20% of it.

Education & health services is the largest employment sector at 23.8% of covered employment, followed by Trade, transportation & utilities at 23.5%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 4.42%, above the Minnesota state average.

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 4.4%; +0.11 pp vs. state
County GDP: $7.3B; 1.44% of state
Avg. annual pay: $57,602
Establishments: 4,014

U.S. BLS 2026M07 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2025

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Education & health services 11,721 23.8%
Trade, transportation & utilities 11,574 23.5%
Manufacturing 6,599 13.4%
Leisure & hospitality 5,608 11.4%
Construction 4,895 9.9%
Professional & business services 3,134 6.4%
Public administration 1,788 3.6%
Other services 1,675 3.4%
Financial activities 1,082 2.2%
Natural resources & mining 933 1.9%
Information 238 0.5%

BLS QCEW 2025

Housing

Home ownership: 84.1%; +11.9 pp vs MN · 6th of 87
Median gross rent: $1,288; +$8 vs MN · 9th of 87
Owner-occupied: 45,420
Renter-occupied: 8,590

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Local economy in 3 reads

Moderately concentrated

Top three sectors employ 61% 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 (Construction, $84,386/yr) pays 3.9× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $21,512/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.
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.

BLS QCEW 2025

Political composition

Consistently strongly Republican

Republican candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 63%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.

Wright County was carried by the Republican candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 63.8% in 2024, 63.1% in 2020, 62.6% in 2016.

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 89,700 votes cast

Republican
Democratic

Republican 57,211 63.8%
Democratic 30,883 34.4%
Other / third-party 1,606 1.8%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Family-dominant, English-speaking

Family households are 72% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 6.0% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).

6.0% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, Russian, Polish, or other Slavic, Chinese. Veterans account for 5.7% of the adult civilian population (6,194 individuals).

Languages spoken at home

94.0% speak only English at home

Spanish 3,133 2.3%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 618 0.4%
Chinese 550 0.4%
Arabic 519 0.4%
German or other West Germanic 427 0.3%
French, Haitian, or Cajun 249 0.2%
Tagalog 181 0.1%
Vietnamese 129 0.1%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Household composition

Households: 54,010
Family households: 38,848; 71.9% of households
Married couples w/ children: 15,356; 39.5% of families
Single-mother families: 2,945; 7.6% of families
Veterans: 6,194; 5.7% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Religious composition

43.6% overall adherence rate

Catholic 36,063 25.5%
Evangelical Protestant 12,297 8.7%
Mainline Protestant 11,114 7.9%
Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 2,089 1.5%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 95.6%; ±0.7 pp
Uninsured: 4.4%; ±0.7 pp; 55th of 87
With a disability: 9.1%; ±0.7 pp; 85th of 87
Bachelor's or higher: 34.4%; ±1.4 pp; −5.0 pp vs MN · 11th of 87
Uninsured, under 65 (2024): 4.7%; 90% interval 4.2%–5.2% · Census SAHIE

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

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Court infrastructure

Trial court: 10th Judicial District Court
Judges: 47 (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: Anoka, Buffalo, Cambridge, Center City, Elk River, Mora, Pine City, Stillwater

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Court reference

Traffic safety context

Wright totals, 2024 — the per-100k rate is based on 15 recorded deaths, too few to be statistically reliable

Traffic fatalities: 15; 13.89 per 100k adults (18+)
Fatal crashes: 13

NHTSA FARS 2024