Murray County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,179 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Slayton.

History

In 1853 the Minnesota Territory legislature created Blue Earth County from unorganized Dakota Territory lands. In 1855 the legislature partitioned a portion of western Blue Earth to create Brown County. Then on May 23, 1857, a portion of Brown was partitioned off to create Murray County, although it was not organized at that time. On June 17, 1872, the county government was effected, with Currie, which had been founded that same year, as county seat. The county was named for William Pitt Murray (1825-1910), a prominent civic and political figure in Minnesota during its nascent era.

Also in 1872 the township of Center was platted (so named for its central position in the county). This settlement grew rapidly, and its residents soon began agitating to have the county seat moved there. In 1882 the town was renamed as Slayton, and a county vote changed the county seat to Slayton effective June 1, 1889.

In the history of record keeping, Minnesota has been struck by two F-5 tornadoes, and both occurred in Murray County: the Chandler-Lake Wilson Tornado (June 16, 1992) and the Tracy Tornado (June 13, 1968) that began in Murray County before crossing north into Lyon County.

Geography

The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds, with all available area devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the south and east. However, its highest elevation occurs on Buffalo Ridge, a promontory extending about two miles along the crest of the Coteau des Prairies in central Chanarambie Township. The bluff rises a few hundred feet above the adjacent valleys. The county has a total area of 720 square miles (1,900 km), of which 705 square miles (1,830 km) is land and 15 square miles (39 km) (2.1%) is water.

The Mississippi-Missouri watershed divide runs through the western part of the county, near Chandler, along Buffalo Ridge. The county's highest point is on that ridge, at 1,920' ASL.

Major highways

Airports

• Slayton Municipal Airport (DVP) - southwest of Slayton, Minnesota

Adjacent counties

Protected areas

Lakes

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	29		—
1870	209		620.7%
1880	3,604		1,624.4%
1890	6,692		85.7%
1900	11,911		78.0%
1910	11,755		−1.3%
1920	13,631		16.0%
1930	13,902		2.0%
1940	15,060		8.3%
1950	14,801		−1.7%
1960	14,743		−0.4%
1970	12,508		−15.2%
1980	11,507		−8.0%
1990	9,660		−16.1%
2000	9,165		−5.1%
2010	8,725		−4.8%
2020	8,179		−6.3%
2023 (est.)	8,049		−1.6%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

2020 Census

Murray County Racial Composition

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	7,483	91.5%
Black or African American (NH)	26	0.32%
Native American (NH)	9	0.11%
Asian (NH)	105	1.3%
Pacific Islander (NH)	3	0.03%
Other/Mixed (NH)	171	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	382	4.7%

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 9,165 people, 3,722 households, and 2,601 families in the county. The population density was 13 per square mile (5.0/km). There were 4,357 housing units at an average density of 6.18 per square mile (2.39/km). The racial makeup of the county was 98.34% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 1.47% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 47.3% were of German, 12.9% Norwegian, 12.5% Dutch and 5.1% Swedish ancestry.

There were 3,722 households, out of which 29.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.50% were married couples living together, 4.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.94.

The county population contained 25.00% under the age of 18, 5.90% from 18 to 24, 23.30% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 21.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,966, and the median income for a family was $40,893. Males had a median income of $27,101 versus $19,636 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,936. About 6.30% of families and 8.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.40% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Census-designated place

• The Lakes

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Government and politics

The county matched the national outcome every year from 1964 until 2008 except 1988, when during the farm crisis it voted for Michael Dukakis. However, like most other rural heavily white areas of the country, it has swung heavily Republican since 2016. In 60% of presidential elections since 1980, the county selected the Republican Party candidate (as of 2020).

United States presidential election results for Murray County, Minnesota

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	3,363	68.69%	1,449	29.60%	84	1.72%
2016	2,974	63.71%	1,295	27.74%	399	8.55%
2012	2,504	52.53%	2,160	45.31%	103	2.16%
2008	2,320	48.20%	2,345	48.72%	148	3.08%
2004	2,719	54.40%	2,218	44.38%	61	1.22%
2000	2,407	50.64%	2,093	44.04%	253	5.32%
1996	1,907	39.17%	2,173	44.63%	789	16.20%
1992	1,609	30.87%	1,993	38.23%	1,611	30.90%
1988	2,316	44.44%	2,840	54.49%	56	1.07%
1984	2,780	49.87%	2,741	49.17%	54	0.97%
1980	3,004	48.56%	2,714	43.87%	468	7.57%
1976	2,605	40.71%	3,685	57.59%	109	1.70%
1972	2,959	49.92%	2,893	48.81%	75	1.27%
1968	2,906	49.35%	2,662	45.21%	320	5.43%
1964	2,325	37.79%	3,822	62.13%	5	0.08%
1960	3,357	52.64%	3,009	47.19%	11	0.17%
1956	3,261	54.61%	2,695	45.13%	15	0.25%
1952	4,054	65.15%	2,145	34.47%	24	0.39%
1948	1,951	34.83%	3,594	64.16%	57	1.02%
1944	2,585	50.67%	2,495	48.90%	22	0.43%
1940	3,044	48.46%	3,203	51.00%	34	0.54%
1936	1,601	27.34%	3,926	67.05%	328	5.60%
1932	1,314	28.21%	3,264	70.07%	80	1.72%
1928	2,602	55.26%	2,078	44.13%	29	0.62%
1924	2,034	45.80%	334	7.52%	2,073	46.68%
1920	3,270	79.16%	698	16.90%	163	3.95%
1916	1,137	46.64%	1,193	48.93%	108	4.43%
1912	388	17.18%	775	34.32%	1,095	48.49%
1908	1,293	60.28%	762	35.52%	90	4.20%
1904	1,464	70.86%	537	25.99%	65	3.15%
1900	1,358	60.68%	816	36.46%	64	2.86%
1896	1,204	52.26%	1,054	45.75%	46	2.00%
1892	586	36.90%	517	32.56%	485	30.54%

County Board of Commissioners

Position		Name	District	Next Election
	Commissioner and Chairperson	Molly Malone	District 1	2024
	Commissioner	Lori Gunnink	District 2	2024
	Commissioner	Dennis Welgraven	District 3	2026
	Commissioner	Jackie Meier	District 4	2027
	Commissioner	Dave Thiner	District 5	2024

State Legislature (2018-2020)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	Senate	Bill Weber	Republican	District 22
	House of Representatives	Joe Schomacker	Republican	District 22A

U.S Congress (2018-2020)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	House of Representatives	Collin Peterson	Democrat	7th
	Senate	Amy Klobuchar	Democrat	N/A
	Senate	Tina Smith	Democrat	N/A

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Murray County, Minnesota