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Pennington County
Pennington County
County
	Old Carnegie Library, downtown Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
	Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
	Minnesota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 48°04′N 96°02′W / 48.07°N 96.04°W
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	November 23, 1910
Named for	Edmund Pennington
Seat	Thief River Falls
Largest city	Thief River Falls
Area
• Total	618 sq mi (1,600 km2)
• Land	617 sq mi (1,600 km2)
• Water	1.7 sq mi (4 km2) 0.3%
Population (2020)
• Total	13,992
• Estimate (2023)	13,714
• Density	22.7/sq mi (8.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	7th
Website	co.pennington.mn.us

Pennington County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,992.^[1] Its county seat is Thief River Falls.^[2]

History

The Wisconsin Territory was established by the federal government effective July 3, 1836, and existed until its eastern portion was granted statehood (as Wisconsin) in 1848. The federal government set up the Minnesota Territory in the remaining territory, effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. One of those original counties, Pembina, had its lower portion partitioned in 1858 by the newly organized Minnesota State legislature to create Polk County. On December 24, 1896, the legislature partitioned the northern portion of Polk to create Red Lake County. Then on November 23, 1910,^[3] the northern part of Red Lake was sectioned off to create Pennington County, the penultimate Minnesota county to be created (followed by Lake of the Woods in 1922). The county was named for Edmund Pennington (1848-1926), a longtime Minnesota railroad executive, who was serving as president of the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railway when the county was formed. Thief River Falls, the area's major settlement (platted in 1887), was specified as the county seat.^[4]

Geography

The Red Lake River flows westward into the county from Beltrami County through Pennington's central portion. Near Thief River Falls it is joined by the Thief River, flowing southward into the county from Marshall County. The combined flow exits Pennington County toward the south, then swings west- and northwestward as it moves to its confluence with the Red River near Grand Forks, North Dakota. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, lightly wooded, with all available areas devoted to agriculture.^[6] The terrain slopes to the west and south,^[7] with its highest point near the lower east border, at 1,186 ft (361 m) ASL.^[8] The county has a total area of 618 square miles (1,600 km²), of which 617 square miles (1,600 km²) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) (0.3%) is water.^[9] Pennington is one of 17 Minnesota savanna region counties with more savanna soils than either prairie or forest soils.

Protected areas

Higinbotham State Wildlife Management Area
Pembina State Wildlife Management Area

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
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%
2020	13,992		0.4%
2023 (est.)	13,714	^[10]	−2.0%
U.S. Decennial Census^[11] 1790-1960^[12] 1900-1990^[13] 1990-2000^[14] 2010-2020^[1]

2020 Census

Pennington County Racial Composition^[15]
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	12,241	87.5%
Black or African American (NH)	177	1.3%
Native American (NH)	166	1.2%
Asian (NH)	121	0.9%
Pacific Islander (NH)	6	0.04%
Other/Mixed (NH)	610	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	671	4.8%

2000 census

2022 US Census population pyramid for Pennington County, from ACS 5-year estimates

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,584 people, 5,525 households, and 3,552 families in the county. The population density was 22.0 per square mile (8.5/km²). There were 6,033 housing units at an average density of 9.78 per square mile (3.78/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.

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.

The county population contained 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.

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Dakota Junction^{[citation needed]}
Erie
Hazel
Highlanding
Kratka
Mavie
River Valley^[6]

Townships

Politics

In the first five elections after its founding, Pennington County had mixed results in presidential elections, voting for four different parties at least once in that span. From 1932 to 1996, the county voted Democratic, typically by moderately healthy margins, in every election save for three nationwide Republican landslides, Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in both 1980 and 1984. Beginning in 2000, Pennington County has favored Republicans in six of the seven elections, with the exception being Barack Obama winning the county in 2008 by a fairly small margin of about 2%.

United States presidential election results for Pennington County, Minnesota^[16]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	4,756	64.44%	2,439	33.04%	186	2.52%
2020	4,532	62.28%	2,568	35.29%	177	2.43%
2016	4,000	59.57%	2,147	31.97%	568	8.46%
2012	3,305	50.71%	3,024	46.40%	188	2.88%
2008	3,248	47.61%	3,394	49.75%	180	2.64%
2004	3,767	53.68%	3,117	44.42%	133	1.90%
2000	3,380	53.48%	2,458	38.89%	482	7.63%
1996	2,129	35.99%	2,814	47.57%	972	16.43%
1992	2,155	33.89%	2,578	40.54%	1,626	25.57%
1988	2,920	48.10%	3,105	51.14%	46	0.76%
1984	3,536	54.49%	2,913	44.89%	40	0.62%
1980	3,715	50.09%	3,101	41.81%	600	8.09%
1976	3,023	43.51%	3,787	54.50%	138	1.99%
1972	3,548	53.76%	2,892	43.82%	160	2.42%
1968	2,247	41.12%	2,998	54.86%	220	4.03%
1964	1,630	29.45%	3,894	70.37%	10	0.18%
1960	2,537	44.05%	3,204	55.63%	18	0.31%
1956	2,408	44.93%	2,947	54.99%	4	0.07%
1952	2,726	48.55%	2,802	49.90%	87	1.55%
1948	1,759	31.37%	3,402	60.66%	447	7.97%
1944	1,525	31.09%	3,330	67.89%	50	1.02%
1940	1,857	31.79%	3,886	66.53%	98	1.68%
1936	1,258	24.40%	3,736	72.47%	161	3.12%
1932	1,212	28.12%	2,743	63.64%	355	8.24%
1928	2,506	65.29%	1,198	31.21%	134	3.49%
1924	1,126	31.20%	146	4.05%	2,337	64.75%
1920	2,320	60.70%	768	20.09%	734	19.20%
1916	868	40.47%	1,004	46.81%	273	12.73%
1912	244	13.03%	423	22.60%	1,205	64.37%