Traverse County, Minnesota

Traverse County, Minnesota
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 20, 1862 [1]
Named for	Lake Traverse
Seat	Wheaton
Largest city	Wheaton
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	585.96 sq mi (1,518 km²) 574.09 sq mi (1,487 km²) 11.87 sq mi (31 km²), 0.44%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	3,558 7/sq mi (3/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Traverse County (local pronunciation: /ˈtrævərs/ trav-ərs) is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1862 As of 2010, the population was 3,558. Its county seat is Wheaton. It is Minnesota's smallest county by population.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 585.96 square miles (1,517.6 km²), of which 574.09 square miles (1,486.9 km²) (or 97.97%) is land and 11.87 square miles (30.7 km²) (or 2.03%) is water.

Lakes

• Lake Traverse - east three-quarters in Windsor Township, west quarter in Folsom Township, east edge in Lake Valley Township, east edge in Walls Township
• Mud Lake - Lake Valley Township
• Saint Marys Lake - Tara Township
• Wet Lake - Arthur Township

Major highways

• U.S. Route 75
• Minnesota State Highway 9
• Minnesota State Highway 27
• Minnesota State Highway 28
• Minnesota State Highway 117

Adjacent counties

• Wilkin County (north)
• Grant County (northeast)
• Stevens County (southeast)
• Big Stone County (south)
• Roberts County, South Dakota (southwest)
• Richland County, North Dakota (northwest)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1870	13		—
1880	1,507		11,492.3%
1890	4,516		199.7%
1900	7,573		67.7%
1910	8,049		6.3%
1920	7,943		−1.3%
1930	7,938		−0.1%
1940	8,283		4.3%
1950	8,053		−2.8%
1960	7,503		−6.8%
1970	6,254		−16.6%
1980	5,542		−11.4%
1990	4,463		−19.5%
2000	4,134		−7.4%
2010	3,558		−13.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,134 people, 1,717 households, and 1,129 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 2,199 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.42% White, 0.02% Black or African American, 2.81% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 0.36% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 52.2% were of German, 13.0% Norwegian, 7.6% Swedish and 5.4% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 1,717 households out of which 28.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.00% were married couples living together, 6.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.20% were non-families. 32.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.97.

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

In the county the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 5.60% from 18 to 24, 21.70% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 26.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,617, and the median income for a family was $39,655. Males had a median income of $29,821 versus $20,100 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,378. About 9.30% of families and 12.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.10% of those under age 18 and 10.80% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Cities	Townships
Browns Valley Dumont Tintah Wheaton	Arthur Township Clifton Township Croke Township Dollymount Township Folsom Township Lake Valley Township Leonardsville Township Monson Township	Parnell Township Redpath Township Tara Township Taylor Township Tintah Township Walls Township Windsor Township

See also

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