Pennington County, Minnesota

Pennington County, Minnesota
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	November 23, 1910 [1]
Named for	Edmund Pennington, a longtime railroad operator.
Seat	Thief River Falls
Largest city	Thief River Falls
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	618.34 sq mi (1,601 km²) 616.54 sq mi (1,597 km²) 1.80 sq mi (5 km²), 0.29%
PopulationEst.  - (2011)  - Density	14,072 22/sq mi (9/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	co.pennington.mn.us

Pennington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,930. Its county seat is Thief River Falls.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 618.34 square miles (1,601.5 km²), of which 616.54 square miles (1,596.8 km²) (or 99.71%) is land and 1.80 square miles (4.7 km²) (or 0.29%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 59
• Minnesota State Highway 1
• Minnesota State Highway 32
• Minnesota State Highway 219
• Pennington County 3: Major connector between Pennington County and Grand Forks. Connects with Polk County 21.
• Pennington County 7: Connects Thief River Falls to the Airport.
• Pennington County 10: Major gravel route, also known as Pembina Trail.
• Pennington County 16: US-59 Truck Bypass of Thief River Falls, connects US-59 / MN-1 on the west side of town to MN-32 on the south side of town.
• Pennington County 27 & 28: Designated and designed for heavy truck traffic connecting US-2 to Roseau County and Marshall County.

Adjacent counties

• Marshall County (north)
• Beltrami County (east)
• Clearwater County (southeast)
• Red Lake County (south)
• Polk County (west)

History

Pennington County was formed on November 23, 1910, from sections of Red Lake County. It was named after Edmund Pennington, president of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1910	9,376		—
1920	12,091		29.0%
1930	10,487		−13.3%
1940	12,913		23.1%
1950	12,965		0.4%
1960	12,468		−3.8%
1970	13,266		6.4%
1980	15,258		15.0%
1990	13,306		−12.8%
2000	13,584		2.1%
2010	13,930		2.5%
Est. 2011	14,072		1.0%
U.S. Decennial Census 2011 estimate

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,584 people, 5,525 households, and 3,552 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile (9/km²). There were 6,033 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.02% White, 0.21% Black or African American, 0.82% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races. 1.24% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 49.0% were of Norwegian, 15.4% German and 7.2% Swedish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 5,525 households out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.70% were married couples living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.70% were non-families. 29.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.95.

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

In the county the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,216, and the median income for a family was $43,936. Males had a median income of $30,771 versus $21,078 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,346. About 7.70% of families and 11.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.70% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Cities	Townships
Goodridge St. Hilaire Thief River Falls	Black River Township Bray Township Clover Leaf Township Deer Park Township Goodridge Township Hickory Township Highlanding Township Kratka Township Mayfield Township Norden Township North Township	Numedal Township Polk Centre Township Reiner Township River Falls Township Rocksbury Township Sanders Township Silverton Township Smiley Township Star Township Wyandotte Township

Municipalities or former towns (Listed on County Abstracts, except Kratka)

• Dakota Junction, Minnesota
• Erie, Minnesota
• Hazel, Minnesota
• Highlanding, Minnesota
• Kratka, Minnesota
• Mavie, Minnesota

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Pennington County, Minnesota