Stearns County, Minnesota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stearns County
U.S. county
Stearns County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	February 20
Named for	Charles Thomas Stearns
Seat	St. Cloud
Largest city	St. Cloud
Area
• Total	1,390 sq mi (3,600 km2)
• Land	1,343 sq mi (3,480 km2)
• Water	47 sq mi (120 km2)  3.4%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	158,292
• Estimate  (2021)	158,947
• Density	117.9/sq mi (45.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	6th, 7th

Stearns County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,292. Its county seat and largest city is St. Cloud. The county was founded in 1855. It was originally named for Isaac Ingalls Stevens, then renamed for Charles Thomas Stearns.

Stearns County is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Combined Statistical Area.

History

The area that is currently Stearns County was formerly occupied by numerous indigenous tribes, such as the Sioux (Dakota), Chippewa (Ojibwe) and Winnebago (Ho-chunk). The first large immigration was of German Catholics in the 1850s. Early arrivals also came from eastern states. Originally, the county was supposed to be named Stevens County after Governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens who conducted an area expedition in 1853. However, due to a clerical error, the county was named Stearns after Charles Thomas Stearns who was a member of the Territorial Council. (Later, the area two counties west was named Stevens County, to compensate for this clerical error.)

Geography

Soils of Padua area, Stearns County

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,390 square miles (3,600 km²), of which 1,343 square miles (3,480 km²) is land and 47 square miles (120 km²) (3.4%) is water.

The eastern border of Stearns County is the Mississippi River. The land consists of rolling hills, scenic lakes, prairies, savannas and woodlands of a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees. Stearns is one of 17 Minnesota savanna region counties with more savanna soils than either prairie or forest soils.

Example of native vegetation

There are 166 lakes in Stearns County.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 U.S. census data

As of the census of 2000, there were 133,166 people, 47,604 households, and 32,132 families residing in the county. The population density was 99 people per square mile (38/km²). There were 50,291 housing units at an average density of 37 per square mile (14/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.99% White, 0.83% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.58% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.47% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. 1.37% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 56.9% were of German and 9.4% Norwegian ancestry.

There were 47,604 households out of which 35.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.50% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.70% under the age of 18, 16.10% from 18 to 24, 28.00% from 25 to 44, 19.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 101.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,426, and the median income for a family was $51,553. Males had a median income of $34,268 versus $23,393 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,211. About 4.30% of families and 8.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.70% of those under age 18 and 8.60% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Townships

Census-designated place

• Fairhaven

Other unincorporated communities

Images for kids

• 

  Soils of St. John's University area

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Stearns para niños