Benton County is a county in the East Central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,379. Its county seat is Foley.

Benton County is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Combined Statistical Area.

History

Established in 1849 and organized in 1850, the county is one of the oldest in Minnesota. It was named for Thomas Hart Benton, a United States Senator from Missouri. Its county seat for many years was Sauk Rapids, at the confluence of the Sauk and Mississippi Rivers. The county seat moved to Watab in 1856 and returned to Sauk Rapids in 1859. Sauk Rapids became the terminus of a railroad line in 1874, but was destroyed by a tornado in 1886. In 1897 the county seat moved to Foley, where it remains. As St. Cloud expanded into a metropolitan area, the northern part of Benton County became a suburb.

Geography

The Mississippi River flows southeast along Benton County's western border, and the Platte River flows south through the county's northwest corner, discharging into the Mississippi at the county's western border. The terrain consists of low rolling hills, wooded or devoted to agriculture. It generally slopes to the south and east, although its western portion slopes into the river valleys. The county's highest point is a small hill near the midpoint of the northern border, 1 mi (1.6 km) north of Brennyville, at 1,311 ft (400 m) ASL. The county has a total area of 413 square miles (1,070 km), of which 408 square miles (1,060 km) is land and 4.8 square miles (12 km) (1.2%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county in Minnesota by land area and fourth-smallest by total area.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Lakes

Protected areas

Climate and weather

Foley, Minnesota
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.7     21 2     0.6     27 7     1.6     39 20     2.6     56 33     3     69 44     4.2     78 54     3.3     82 59     3.8     80 56     3.5     70 47     2.5     57 35     1.4     39 22     0.8     25 7 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     17     −6 −17     16     −3 −14     39     4 −7     65     13 1     75     21 7     106     26 12     84     28 15     96     27 13     88     21 8     63     14 2     35     4 −6     21     −4 −14 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Foley have ranged from a low of 2 °F (−17 °C) in January to a high of 82 °F (28 °C) in July, although a record low of −43 °F (−42 °C) was recorded in January 1977 and a record high of 107 °F (42 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 0.62 inches (16 mm) in February to 4.17 inches (106 mm) in June.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	418		—
1860	627		50.0%
1870	1,558		148.5%
1880	3,012		93.3%
1890	6,284		108.6%
1900	9,912		57.7%
1910	11,615		17.2%
1920	14,073		21.2%
1930	15,056		7.0%
1940	16,106		7.0%
1950	15,911		−1.2%
1960	17,287		8.6%
1970	20,841		20.6%
1980	25,187		20.9%
1990	30,185		19.8%
2000	34,226		13.4%
2010	38,451		12.3%
2020	41,379		7.6%
2023 (est.)	41,600		0.5%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

2020 census

Benton County Racial Composition

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	35,821	86.6%
Black or African American (NH)	1,991	4.81%
Native American (NH)	184	0.44%
Asian (NH)	463	1.12%
Pacific Islander (NH)	8	0.02%
Other/Mixed (NH)	1,696	4.1%
Hispanic or Latino	1,216	2.94%

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 34,226 people, 13,065 households, and 8,518 families in the county. The population density was 83.9 per square mile (32.4/km). There were 13,460 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile (13/km). The racial makeup of the county was 96.22% White, 0.78% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, and 0.94% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 47.8% were of German, 12.1% Polish and 8.8% Norwegian ancestry.

There were 13,065 households, out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.10% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.80% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.14.

The county population contained 27.10% under the age of 18, 12.20% from 18 to 24, 31.00% from 25 to 44, 18.70% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,968, and the median income for a family was $51,277. Males had a median income of $33,214 versus $22,737 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,008. About 4.50% of families and 7.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.30% of those under age 18 and 12.60% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Townships

Census-designated place

• Ronneby

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

• Estes Brook
• Minden

Government and politics

Benton County voters have tended to vote Republican for the past few decades. In 2016 Donald Trump won the county with 64.2%, the highest share of the vote for any presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.

United States presidential election results for Benton County, Minnesota

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	14,382	64.61%	7,280	32.70%	598	2.69%
2016	12,872	64.17%	5,640	28.12%	1,546	7.71%
2012	10,849	55.30%	8,173	41.66%	597	3.04%
2008	10,338	53.46%	8,454	43.71%	547	2.83%
2004	10,043	54.63%	8,059	43.84%	282	1.53%
2000	7,663	51.40%	6,009	40.31%	1,236	8.29%
1996	4,835	36.54%	6,006	45.39%	2,392	18.08%
1992	5,053	35.16%	5,156	35.88%	4,162	28.96%
1988	6,060	50.33%	5,861	48.68%	119	0.99%
1984	6,830	57.48%	4,922	41.42%	131	1.10%
1980	5,513	46.79%	5,272	44.75%	997	8.46%
1976	4,099	37.38%	6,235	56.86%	631	5.75%
1972	4,652	49.35%	4,282	45.43%	492	5.22%
1968	3,470	43.29%	4,022	50.17%	524	6.54%
1964	2,818	37.47%	4,679	62.22%	23	0.31%
1960	3,324	44.23%	4,175	55.56%	16	0.21%
1956	3,591	57.77%	2,609	41.97%	16	0.26%
1952	3,856	59.54%	2,587	39.95%	33	0.51%
1948	2,297	38.19%	3,632	60.38%	86	1.43%
1944	2,988	56.76%	2,258	42.90%	18	0.34%
1940	3,491	55.76%	2,742	43.79%	28	0.45%
1936	1,783	30.67%	3,111	53.52%	919	15.81%
1932	1,329	24.84%	3,901	72.92%	120	2.24%
1928	2,373	46.29%	2,732	53.30%	21	0.41%
1924	1,629	41.90%	572	14.71%	1,687	43.39%
1920	2,920	78.83%	554	14.96%	230	6.21%
1916	1,020	49.09%	945	45.48%	113	5.44%
1912	468	24.38%	562	29.27%	890	46.35%
1908	1,001	54.11%	765	41.35%	84	4.54%
1904	1,205	71.90%	433	25.84%	38	2.27%
1900	849	51.58%	751	45.63%	46	2.79%
1896	778	46.61%	867	51.95%	24	1.44%
1892	426	25.63%	577	34.72%	659	39.65%

County Board of Commissioners

Position		Name	District
	Commissioner and Chairperson	Scott Johnson	District 1
	Commissioner	Ed Popp	District 2
	Commissioner	Steve Heinen	District 3
	Commissioner and Vice Chair	Jared J. Gapinski	District 4
	Commissioner and Chairperson	Beth Schlangen	District 5

State Legislature (2022)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	Senate	Jeff Howe	Republican	District 13
	Senate	Aric Putnam	Democrat	District 14
	Senate	Andrew Mathews	Republican	District 15
	House of Representatives	Tim O'Driscoll	Republican	District 13B
	House of Representatives	Dan Wolgamott	Democrat	District 14B
	House of Representatives	Shane Mekeland	Republican	District 15B

U.S Congress (2022)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	House of Representatives	Tom Emmer	Republican	6th
	Senate	Amy Klobuchar	Democrat	N/A
	Senate	Tina Smith	Democrat	N/A

See also

• Great River Regional Library
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Benton County, Minnesota