Mahnomen 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 5,411. 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 ...

is Mahnomen. The county is part of the White Earth Indian Reservation. It is the only county in Minnesota entirely within an

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

. Mahnomen, East Polk, and Becker counties constitute one of northwestern Minnesota's biggest cattle-raising areas.

History

The county was created from the east half of Norman County on December 27, 1906, with Mahnomen, a former railway station town, as the county seat. The county was named for the town, the name of which is one spelling of the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

word for "wild rice". From 1857 to 1858, similarly named Manomin County existed in Minnesota, which merged into Anoka County.

Geography

The Wild Rice River enters the county from Clearwater County and flows west through the central part of the county. The White Earth River originates from White Earth Lake on the county's southern border and flows northwest to its confluence with the Wild Rice near Mahnomen. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, carved with drainages. The eastern part of the county is dotted with lakes and ponds and largely wooded. All non-wooded areas are devoted to agriculture where possible.Mahnomen County MN Google Maps (accessed April 18, 2019)
/ref> The county slopes to the west and north, with its highest point near the middle of the east border, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (4.3%) is water. Mahnomen is one of 17 Minnesota savanna region counties with more savanna soils than either prairie or forest soils.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 59 * Minnesota State Highway 113 * Minnesota State Highway 200

Airports

* Mahnomen County Airport (3N8) - south of Mahnomen

Adjacent counties

* Polk County - north * Clearwater County - east * Becker County - south * Norman County - west

Protected areas

Source: * Beaulife State Wildlife Management Area * Bejou State Wildlife Management Area * Budde Meadow State Wildlife Management Area * Dittmer State Wildlife Management Area * Foot State Wildlife Management Area * Hasselton State Wildlife Management Area (part) * Loncrace State Wildlife Management Area * Mahgre State Wildlife Management Area * Rush Lake State Wildlife Management Area * Santee Prairie Scientific and Natural Area * Wambach State Wildlife Management Area * Warren Lake State Wildlife Management Area

Demographics

2020 Census

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 5,190 people, 1,969 households, and 1,366 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 2,700 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 62.85%

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 ...

(3,262 people) 0.13%

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 ...

(7 people), 28.55% Native American (1,482 people), 0.06% Asian (3 people), 0.31% from other races (16 people), and 8.09% (420 people) from two or more races. 0.89% of the population (46 people) 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. 29.4% (1525 people) 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 ...

and 17.0% (882 people) Norwegian ancestry. There were 1,969 households, out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.60% 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, 11.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.60% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.14. The county population contained 29.20% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 23.50% from 25 to 44, 23.40% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 102.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,053, and the median income for a family was $35,500. Males had a median income of $23,614 versus $21,000 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 $13,438. About 11.80% of families and 16.70% 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 21.30% of those under age 18 and 15.30% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bejou * Mahnomen (county seat) * Waubun

Census-designated places

* Beaulieu * Midway * Naytahwaush * Pine Bend *

Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the Murray River, River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria downstream to Blanchetown, South Australia ...

* Roy Lake * The Ranch * Twin Lakes * West Roy Lake

Unincorporated community

* Mahkonce

Townships

* Beaulieu Township * Bejou Township * Chief Township * Clover Township * Gregory Township * Heier Township * Island Lake Township * La Garde Township * Lake Grove Township * Little Elbow Township * Marsh Creek Township * Oakland Township * Pembina Township * Popple Grove Township * Rosedale Township * Twin Lakes Township

Government and politics

For several decades, Mahnomen County voters have tended to vote Democratic. As of 2020, the county has selected the Democratic candidate in six of the past ten presidential elections. However, since 2016, the county has trended Republican, voting for Donald Trump all three times, with Trump increasing his vote share in 2020 and 2024, receiving 53% of the vote in 2024. The county also voted Republican by double-digit margins for every statewide office in the 2022 Midterm Elections, potentially signifying a realignment.

References

External links

County of Mahnomen website http://www.co.mahnomen.mn.us/
{{authority control Minnesota counties Minnesota placenames of Native American origin 1906 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1906