Pipestone County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,424. Its county seat is Pipestone.

The county was formed on May 23, 1857, by act of the territorial legislature, but was not organized at that time. The area was first designated Rock County while the name Pipestone County was attached to neighboring Rock County. An act of the Minnesota state legislature on February 20, 1862, swapped the designations, attaching the present names to the present counties, due to the pipestone quarry in this county.

Pipestone County organization was effected by a state act on January 27, 1879, with Pipestone City (which had been platted in 1876) as the county seat (the name of the county seat was later shortened to Pipestone). The pipestones are from deposits of red pipestone Native Americans used to make pipes.

Pipestone National Monument is in the county, just north of the town of Pipestone.

Pipestone County lies on Minnesota's border with South Dakota. The Rock River rises in the county and flows southward into Rock County, being augmented by the East Branch of the Rock River near the southern border. The terrain consists of low rolling hills, carved by drainages. The area is devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the west and south, with its highest point on the upper part of its eastern border, at 1,883 ft (574 m) ASL. The county has an area of 466 square miles (1,210 km), of which 465 square miles (1,200 km) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km) (0.2%) is water.

The highest point in the eastern part of the county may be as stated but the highest summit is 1995 ft at 44.1927°, -96.2033°

Pipestone County is one of only four Minnesota counties without a natural lake, the other three being Mower, Olmsted and Rock. It does contain manmade reservoirs:

• Indian Lake
• Split Rock Lake: in Split Rock Creek State Park

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	2,092		—
1890	5,132		145.3%
1900	9,264		80.5%
1910	9,553		3.1%
1920	12,050		26.1%
1930	12,238		1.6%
1940	13,794		12.7%
1950	14,003		1.5%
1960	13,605		−2.8%
1970	12,791		−6.0%
1980	11,690		−8.6%
1990	10,491		−10.3%
2000	9,895		−5.7%
2010	9,596		−3.0%
2020	9,424		−1.8%
2023 (est.)	9,245		−1.9%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

Pipestone County Racial Composition

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	8,057	85.5%
Black or African American (NH)	107	1.14%
Native American (NH)	100	1.1%
Asian (NH)	66	0.7%
Pacific Islander (NH)	0	0%
Other/Mixed (NH)	290	3.1%
Hispanic or Latino	804	8.53%

As of the census of 2000, there were 9,895 people, 4,069 households, and 2,726 families in the county. The population density was 21.3 per square mile (8.2/km). There were 4,434 housing units at an average density of 9.54 per square mile (3.68/km). The racial makeup of the county was 96.68% White, 0.17% Black or African American, 1.48% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. 0.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 35.7% were of German, 24.8% Dutch and 14.3% Norwegian ancestry.

There were 4,069 households, of which 31.0% had children under age 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.96.

The county population contained 25.8% under age 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,909, and the median income for a family was $40,133. Males had a median income of $27,642 versus $20,759 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,450. About 7.8% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under 18 and 11.1% of those 65 or older.

In recent decades Pipestone County has trended Republican. In no presidential election since 1976 has the county selected the Democratic nominee (as of 2024). In 2012, it was one of only two counties not to vote for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar, along with its southern neighbor Rock County.

United States presidential election results for Pipestone County, Minnesota

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	3,537	73.12%	1,215	25.12%	85	1.76%
2020	3,553	71.92%	1,306	26.44%	81	1.64%
2016	3,338	69.43%	1,127	23.44%	343	7.13%
2012	2,826	60.83%	1,725	37.13%	95	2.04%
2008	2,652	55.24%	2,023	42.14%	126	2.62%
2004	3,066	60.93%	1,900	37.76%	66	1.31%
2000	2,693	55.03%	1,970	40.25%	231	4.72%
1996	2,096	44.39%	1,999	42.33%	627	13.28%
1992	1,953	37.78%	1,773	34.29%	1,444	27.93%
1988	2,760	53.19%	2,382	45.90%	47	0.91%
1984	3,043	55.32%	2,391	43.46%	67	1.22%
1980	3,207	51.37%	2,392	38.31%	644	10.32%
1976	3,018	47.15%	3,272	51.12%	111	1.73%
1972	3,543	55.57%	2,758	43.26%	75	1.18%
1968	3,241	56.48%	2,234	38.93%	263	4.58%
1964	2,481	42.40%	3,365	57.51%	5	0.09%
1960	3,677	59.97%	2,443	39.85%	11	0.18%
1956	3,362	60.76%	2,165	39.13%	6	0.11%
1952	4,507	72.45%	1,701	27.34%	13	0.21%
1948	2,281	44.03%	2,804	54.13%	95	1.83%
1944	2,844	56.95%	2,129	42.63%	21	0.42%
1940	3,423	58.59%	2,390	40.91%	29	0.50%
1936	1,881	36.38%	3,026	58.53%	263	5.09%
1932	1,509	32.96%	2,996	65.44%	73	1.59%
1928	2,578	61.28%	1,591	37.82%	38	0.90%
1924	2,066	48.16%	219	5.10%	2,005	46.74%
1920	3,106	79.89%	490	12.60%	292	7.51%
1916	1,010	52.44%	732	38.01%	184	9.55%
1912	301	18.09%	505	30.35%	858	51.56%
1908	1,057	65.09%	491	30.23%	76	4.68%
1904	1,185	76.16%	269	17.29%	102	6.56%
1900	1,112	59.85%	692	37.24%	54	2.91%
1896	862	47.49%	919	50.63%	34	1.87%
1892	648	47.96%	295	21.84%	408	30.20%

County Board of Commissioners

Position		Name	District	Next Election
	Commissioner	Luke Johnson	District 1	2024
	Commissioner	Doug Nagel	District 2	2026
	Commissioner	Dallas Roskamp	District 3	2024
	Commissioner	Dan Wildermuth	District 4	2026
	Commissioner	Chris Hollinsworth	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	Michelle Fischbach	Republican	7th
	Senate	Amy Klobuchar	Democrat	N/A
	Senate	Tina Smith	Democrat	N/A

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

• Pipestone County government’s website

44°01′N 96°15′W / 44.02°N 96.25°W / 44.02; -96.25