The Counties

Around one of every two Minnesotans lives in this region, which includes Minnesota's capital (St. Paul) Minnesota's largest city (Minneapolis) and burgeoning suburbs. A major business and cultural hub of the upper midwest, the Twin Cities region is home to a number of Fortune 500 companies, the University of Minnesota, and the world-famous Mall of America.

Generally, our region refers to the 7-county metropolitan area. Occasionally information at the regional level may include fewer or more counties because of how data are collected. When this is the case, it is noted.

Sponsors

Twin Cities Compass is sponsored by nine foundations:

3M Foundation

Bush Foundation

Greater Twin Cities United Way

The McKnight Foundation

B.C. Gamble, P.W. Skogmo Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation

The Saint Paul Foundation

Travelers Foundation

Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota

Amherst H. Wilder Foundation

Advisors

More than 400 community leaders have volunteered their time and expertise to shape the project.

At A Glance profiles

Anoka County – Anoka is a Dakota name meaning “on both sides,” referring to its placement on both sides of the Rum River. With more than 327,000 residents, Anoka County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. Its county seat is the city of Anoka.

Carver County – Named after the explorer Jonathan Carver, this county is the least populous in the 7-county metro, with around 90,000 residents. Its county seat is Chaska.

Dakota County – Named for the Dakota (Sioux) Indians, it is the site of the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, both strategically important for United States expansion and as the convergence of the Dakota and Anishinaabe nations, who regarded the site as sacred. Dakota County has a population of nearly 393,000. Part of the boom in suburban growth in the metro, its largest cities are Burnsville, Apple Valley, Eagan, and Lakeville, each in the top 20 most populous cities in Minnesota. The county seat is Hastings.

Hennepin County – With a population of more than 1.1 million, Hennepin is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live within its borders. The county seat is Minneapolis, the largest city in the state. Dubbed "Mill City," Minneapolis grew up around St. Anthony Falls, and businesses used the hydropower to run sawmills, woolen mills, flour mills (including Pillsbury and General Mills), and other heavy industry. Today, it is home to five Fortune 500 company headquarters including Target Corp, General Mills, U.S. Bancorp, and 3M; a variety of colleges and universities, a vibrant and nationally-recognized arts, music, and cultural community, three professional sports teams (the Vikings, the Twins and the Timberwolves), seven hospitals, and its Chain of Lakes, made famous in the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore show.

Ramsey County – Named for Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of the Minnesota Territory, Ramsey is the smallest county in the state in terms of area, but the second most populous, with more than a half a million residents. It is also the most ethnically diverse county in the state, with nearly 28 percent population of color. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The settlement was originally named Pig's Eye, but was renamed after the Apostle Paul in 1841.

Scott County – With a population of nearly 130,000, Scott County is a mixed rural/suburban county in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. It was organized in 1853 and named in honor of General Winfield Scott. The Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation is located entirely within the county and within the cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee. Its largest city is Chanhassen and its county seat is Shakopee.

Washington County – Named after George Washington, the county was one of the nine original counties in the Minnesota territory. It has a population of more than 229,000 about a quarter of whom live in the city of Woodbury, its most populous city. Its county seat is Stillwater, the so-called "birthplace of Minnesota.