Jackson County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,989. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

History

The county was created on May 23, 1857. It was named for Henry Jackson, the first merchant in St. Paul.

Geography

Jackson County is on Minnesota's border with

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. The Des Moines River flows south-southeasterly through the central part of the county, then into Iowa. The county terrain is hilly and carved with drainages and gullies. The area is devoted to agriculture.''Jackson County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 12, 2019)
/ref> The terrain generally slopes to the south and east; its highest point is on the lower west border, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.3%) is water.

Lakes

Source: * Andersons Marsh *Bennett Slough (Partially Drained) * Boot Lake * Chandler Lake * Clear Lake (part) * Clear Lake (Des Moines Township and Hunter Township) * Fish Lake (part) *Grovers Lake (part) * Heron Lake (4 basins: Duck, North Marsh, North Lake, South Lake, connected by streams) * Illinois Lake * Independence Lake * Iowa Lake (part) * Lake Flaherty * Laurs Lake * Little Spirit Lake (part) *Long Lake (Drained CD13) * Loon Lake * Pearl Lake *Quevli and Goose Slough (Drained JD3) *Quelvis Lake (Drained) * Round Lake * Rush Lake (Sioux Valley Township) * Rush Lake (Minneota Township) * Skunk Lake * Spirit Lake * String Lake (part) *Swenson Lake (Drained) * Teal Lake * Timber Lake

Protected areas

Sources: * Anderson County Park *Artz WMA *Belmont County Park * Bootleg Lake State Wildlife Management Area *Brown County Park * Caraway State Wildlife Management Area *Christiana WPA *Clear Lake Recreation Area *Community Point County Park *Cotton-Jack WMA *Dead Horse WMA * Des Moines River Scientific and Natural Area *Fish Lake WPA *Graham Creek WMA *Heron Lake WMA *Heron Meadows WMA * Holthe Prairie Scientific and Natural Area *Holy Trinity WPA * Husen Wildlife Management Area * Kilen Woods State Park * Laurs Lake State Wildlife Management Area *Lillegard WMA *Little Sioux WMA * Minnesota Slough State Wildlife Management Area *Oxbow WMA *Pietz Slough WMA * Robertson County Park *Rost WPA *Sandy Point County Park * Sangl State Wildlife Management Area *Sioux Forks WPA *Sioux Valley WMA *Skunk Lake WMA *String Lake WPA * Summers State Wildlife Management Area *Teal Lake WMA *Timber Lake WMA *Timber Lake WPA *Toe WMA *Valleau WMA *Winkler WMA

Major highways

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

* U.S. Highway 71 *

Minnesota State Highway 60 Trunk Highway 60 (MN 60) is a highway in southern Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 60 at the Iowa state line (at Bigelow) and continues east-northeast to its eastern terminus at the Wisconsin state line (at Wabasha), where the ro ...

* Minnesota State Highway 86 * Minnesota State Highway 264

Adjacent counties

* Cottonwood County - north * Watonwan County - northeast * Martin County - east * Emmet County, Iowa - southeast * Dickinson County, Iowa - south *

Osceola County, Iowa Osceola County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census the population was 6,192, making it the state's fifth-least populous county. It is named for Seminole war chief Osceola. The county seat is Sibley, named ...

- southwest * Nobles County - west

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 11,268 people, 4,556 households, and 3,116 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 5,092 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.07%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.09%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.12% Native American, 1.38% Asian, 0.97% from other races, and 0.38% from two or more races. 1.86% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 51.9% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 14.1% Norwegian and 5.6% American ancestry. There were 4,556 households, out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.00% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.60% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.95. The county population contained 24.50% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 20.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 100.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,746, and the median income for a family was $43,426. Males had a median income of $29,123 versus $20,860 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $17,499. About 5.20% of families and 8.60% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 11.00% of those under age 18 and 8.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

* Heron Lake *

(county seat) * Lakefield * Okabena * Wilder

Census-designated place

* Fish Lake

Unincorporated communities

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

* Miloma * Petersburg * Rost * Sioux Valley * Spafford

Townships

* Alba Township * Belmont Township * Christiania Township * Delafield Township * Des Moines Township * Enterprise Township * Ewington Township * Heron Lake Township * Hunter Township * Kimball Township * La Crosse Township * Middletown Township * Minneota Township * Petersburg Township * Rost Township * Round Lake Township * Sioux Valley Township * Weimer Township * West Heron Lake Township * Wisconsin Township

Politics

From 1932 to 1996, Jackson County favored the Democratic nominee in all but four presidential elections, all of which were Republican landslides. Since 2000, the county has voted Republican in every election.

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

won the county by somewhat modest margins in both 2000 and 2004, and

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

defeated

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

by slightly over 4% in 2008. In 2012,

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

defeated Obama by over 14%. This was a portent, as in 2016,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

nearly tripled Romney's margin of victory, defeating

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in the county by over 38%. Trump was the first Republican to win at least 60% of the county vote since

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

in 1952. His margin of victory fell slightly in 2020, but he increased his vote share to nearly 68%, the best vote share for any Republican in the county since

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

. Trump's vote share increased further to nearly 70% in 2024 and his margin of victory increased to 42%, the highest for a Republican presidential candidate since Harding in 1920.

References

External links

Jackson County government's web site
{{Coord, 43.68, -95.16, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties 1857 establishments in Minnesota Territory Populated places established in 1857