North Branch is a city in Chisago County,

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 ...

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, at the junction of

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican bo ...

and Minnesota State Highway 95. The population was 10,787 at the 2020 census. It is named for the north branch of the Sunrise River, which flows through the city.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.

History

North Branch became a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in 1861, and incorporated in 1881. In 1901 North Branch split into a village covering the more densely populated downtown area and a township covering the rest of the former village. The township later incorporated as the village of Branch in 1961. The two cities talked about a potential merger for years, beginning in the late 1970s. The first public referendum on the issue was held in 1984, and failed. A second referendum was held on September 13, 1994, and passed. The two cities officially merged on November 14, 1994. Arrowhead Transit provides public bus routes and Dial-A-Ride in North Branch as of 2022.

Demographics

2020 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 2020, there were 10,787 people and 3,881 households. 94% of residents had at least a high school education, and 20.5% had attained a bachelor's degree or higher. 4.9% were veterans. 98.9% of residents were born in the United States, and 80.4% had been born in Minnesota. Among the foreign-born population, 85.0% were naturalized US citizens, the majority of whom were born in Asia. 97.3% of residents spoke only English at home. The racial makeup of the city was 89.8% White alone (95.0% White alone or in combination), 2.1% Asian, 1.1% Black, 0.7% Native American, and 1.0% some other race. 5.3% were two or more races. The most common ancestries in North Branch were German (30.3%), Swedish (14.5%), Norwegian (13.2%), Irish (7.1%), and Polish (4.1%). Among cities with at least 10,000 people, North Branch has the highest concentration of people with Swedish ancestry in the United States. Among workers 16 years and older, 81.6% commuted to work via

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

, 10.6% carpooled, 0.9% used public transit, and 2.4% walked, biked, or used some other method. 5.0% worked from home. The median household income in North Branch was $85,213, slightly above the state average. 9.2% of residents lived 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 ...

, and 2.3% were unemployed. 85.8% of housing in the city was owner-occupied. The average family size in North Branch was 3.21 persons, and 60.1% of households were married-couple families.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 10,125 people, 3,604 households, and 2,591 families living in the city. 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 3,767 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.6%

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 ...

, 0.5%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races.

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 were 1.9% of the population. There were 3,604 households, of which 42.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% 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, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.1% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.25. The median age in the city was 34.3 years. 29.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 30.4% were from 25 to 44; 22.2% were from 45 to 64; and 10.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.8% male and 50.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 8,023 people, 2,815 households, and 2,147 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,900 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.27%

, 0.16%

, 0.49% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.21% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population. There were 2,815 households, out of which 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were

living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.24. In the city, the population was spread out, with 33.0% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 34.5% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $50,294, and the median income for a family was $56,512. Males had a median income of $39,478 versus $26,424 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 city was $20,875. About 3.1% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the

, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Public schools

*Sunrise River Elementary School *North Branch Area Middle School *North Branch Area High School *Phoenix Academy of Art and Science K-6

Notable people

* William J. Duffy – (1916–2013), jurist and legislator; served in the Wisconsin State Assembly 1949–1950, and was elected a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for Brown County, Wisconsin serving until his retirement in 1992, born in North Branch * Thomas H. Horton - (1859–1943), farmer and legislator * Janet Johnson – Minnesota state senator * Mark Koran – member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

* Jon Lucivansky – NFL official 2009-2018 * Doug Mahnke – comic book writer * Anne Neu – member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

* Rick Olseen – former member of the

* Matt Patrick, producer * Becky Pearson – one-time LPGA Tour winning golfer and two-time winner of the Minnesota Junior Girls State Championship * Lee Quillen – former baseball player for

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Richard Warren Sears Richard Warren Sears (December 7, 1863 – September 28, 1914) was an American businessman who co-founded the department store Sears, Roebuck and Company with his partner Alvah Curtis Roebuck. Early life Sears was born in Stewartville, Minnes ...

– telegraph operator and founder of

Sears, Roebuck and Company Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

* Maynard W. Tollberg – sailor

In popular culture

* North Branch is the hometown of the character Tulip Olsen in the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

/ HBO Max animated

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller series '' Infinity Train''.

References

External links

City of North Branch

North Branch Area Chamber of Commerce

Independent School District #138

North Branch
at the Minnesota Historical Society. {{Authority control Cities in Chisago County, Minnesota Cities in Minnesota