Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,352, making it the second-most populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat and largest city is Saint Paul, the state capital and the twin city of Minneapolis. The county was founded in 1849 and is named for Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of the Minnesota Territory.

Ramsey County is included in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the smallest and most densely populated county in Minnesota, as well as one of the most densely populated counties in the United States.

With the establishment of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, nine counties, including Ramsey County, were created. In 1849, Ramsey County included all of what later became the present-day counties of Ramsey, Anoka, Isanti, and Kanabec; and part of Washington, Pine, Carlton, Aitkin, Mille Lacs, and Hennepin. One of Ramsey County's early settlers was Heman Gibbs, whose farm is now operated as the Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life (Gibbs Farm) in Falcon Heights. Ramsey County remained largely farmland until small villages began to appear in the late 19th century, with the incorporation of North St. Paul in 1887, New Brighton in 1891, and White Bear Lake in 1921.

Ramsey County is overwhelmingly Democratic in presidential elections, having not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1924. In 2020, Democratic nominee Joe Biden received the largest share of the vote for any candidate in the county's history, with over 71%.

The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office was established in the old Minnesota Territory in 1849. The current sheriff is Bob Fletcher, who won the general election for Ramsey County Sheriff on November 6, 2018. The Ramsey County Sheriff is elected for a four-year term via an election running concurrent with the federal mid-term elections.

The sheriff's office provides patrol and investigation for communities without local police forces and is available as backup for all communities. In addition to enforcing the law throughout the county, the office provides town police services under contract to Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Little Canada, North Oaks, Shoreview, Vadnais Heights and White Bear Township.

The Ramsey County Sheriff's office provides a number of unique services across the county as mandated by law. This includes detention for court and other court services. This also includes safety, rescue and law enforcement on the waterways. Proactively, the Sheriff's office provides multiple safety classes and coordinates community volunteer efforts. The office is responsible for the county jail, more officially the "Adult Detention Center." The facility has a capacity of five hundred prisoners and a staff of about 150.

On August 25, 2022, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher announced that the Sheriff's office would be featured on the show On Patrol: Live, airing on Reelz. However an agreement was not reached, Sheriff Bob Fletcher continues a broadcast of many of his and his deputies' shifts.

Community	Law Enforcement	Fire Protection	Ambulance
Arden Hills	Ramsey County Sheriff	Lake Johanna Fire	Allina Medical Transport
Falcon Heights	Ramsey County Sheriff	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Gem Lake	White Bear Lake Police	White Bear Lake Fire	White Bear Lake Fire
Lauderdale	Saint Anthony Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Little Canada	Ramsey County Sheriff	Little Canada Fire & Rescue	Allina Medical Transport
Maplewood	Maplewood Police	Maplewood Fire	Maplewood Fire
Minnesota State Fairgrounds	Minnesota State Fair Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Mounds View	Mounds View Police	SBM Fire	Allina Medical Transport
New Brighton	New Brighton Police Division	New Brighton Fire Division	Allina Medical Transport
North Oaks	Ramsey County Sheriff	Lake Johanna Fire	Allina Medical Transport
North Saint Paul	North Saint Paul Police	North Saint Paul Fire	Lakeview Emergency Medical
Roseville	Roseville Police	Roseville Fire	Allina Medical Transport
Saint Anthony	Saint Anthony Police	Saint Anthony Fire	Hennepin EMS
Saint Paul	Saint Paul Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Shoreview	Ramsey County Sheriff	Lake Johanna Fire	Allina Medical Transport
University of Minnesota-St. Paul	University Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Vadnais Heights	Ramsey County Sheriff	Vadnais Heights Fire	Allina Medical Transport
White Bear Lake	White Bear Lake Police	White Bear Lake Fire	White Bear Lake Fire
White Bear Township	Ramsey County Sheriff	White Bear Lake Fire	White Bear Lake Fire

The Ramsey County Attorney prosecutes felony crimes which are committed within the jurisdiction of Ramsey County. The current County Attorney is John Choi, who was elected in 2010.

The county commission elects a chair who presides at meetings. Commissioners as of January 3, 2023:

District	Commissioner	In office since	Current term expires on December 31 of
1st	Nicole Joy Frethem	2019	2024
2nd	Mary Jo McGuire	2013	2024
3rd	Trista MatasCastillo (chair)	2019	2026
4th	Rena Moran	2022	2026
5th	Rafael Ortega	1995	2026
6th	Mai Chong Xiong	2022	2026
7th	Victoria Reinhardt	1997	2024

United States presidential election results for Ramsey County, Minnesota

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	77,376	26.14%	211,620	71.50%	6,981	2.36%
2016	70,894	25.95%	177,738	65.07%	24,511	8.97%
2012	86,800	31.13%	184,938	66.33%	7,084	2.54%
2008	88,942	32.06%	182,974	65.96%	5,470	1.97%
2004	97,096	35.62%	171,846	63.04%	3,635	1.33%
2000	87,669	35.89%	138,470	56.69%	18,139	7.43%
1996	66,954	29.34%	133,878	58.66%	27,381	12.00%
1992	68,206	27.08%	130,932	51.97%	52,777	20.95%
1988	88,736	37.78%	143,767	61.20%	2,393	1.02%
1984	95,667	39.95%	141,623	59.15%	2,153	0.90%
1980	78,860	33.88%	124,774	53.61%	29,110	12.51%
1976	86,480	37.92%	133,682	58.62%	7,905	3.47%
1972	95,716	45.59%	108,392	51.63%	5,843	2.78%
1968	64,068	32.75%	122,568	62.64%	9,020	4.61%
1964	56,898	29.70%	133,948	69.91%	746	0.39%
1960	77,408	41.50%	108,464	58.15%	655	0.35%
1956	80,701	47.74%	87,784	51.93%	554	0.33%
1952	76,093	44.40%	93,783	54.73%	1,494	0.87%
1948	48,142	34.17%	88,528	62.84%	4,217	2.99%
1944	53,052	39.67%	78,759	58.89%	1,933	1.45%
1940	57,093	41.32%	78,990	57.17%	2,082	1.51%
1936	30,553	23.37%	86,286	66.00%	13,889	10.62%
1932	38,589	35.74%	66,128	61.24%	3,263	3.02%
1928	53,054	47.84%	56,807	51.22%	1,049	0.95%
1924	39,566	47.66%	8,407	10.13%	35,046	42.21%
1920	40,204	58.62%	21,110	30.78%	7,273	10.60%
1916	13,317	35.08%	22,291	58.72%	2,353	6.20%
1912	4,109	12.70%	12,431	38.43%	15,810	48.87%
1908	16,556	54.64%	11,613	38.33%	2,131	7.03%
1904	18,269	70.22%	5,860	22.52%	1,889	7.26%
1900	15,384	56.26%	10,931	39.97%	1,030	3.77%
1896	17,522	57.66%	12,048	39.65%	817	2.69%
1892	11,307	41.99%	12,817	47.60%	2,802	10.41%

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 170 square miles (440 km), of which 152 square miles (390 km) is land and 18 square miles (47 km) (11%) is water. It is the smallest county by area in Minnesota. It has been considered completely urbanized since the 1990 United States Census.

• Anoka County (north)
• Washington County (east)
• Dakota County (south)
• Hennepin County (west)

• Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (part)

Ramsey County is a major freight hub along BNSF's Northern Transcon route, as well as being served by Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific.

Amtrak offers daily intercity passenger rail service on the Empire Builder from Union Depot in Saint Paul. Light rail service is provided by Metro, a light rail and bus rapid transit system operated by Metro Transit that connects several communities in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties. The Metro Green Line connects St. Paul Union Depot to Target Field station in Minneapolis, in neighboring Hennepin County.

Ramsey County is served by several interstate highways, including Interstate 35 and Interstate 94. I-35 has two routes through Ramsey County. I-35E enters the county from Dakota County to the south and proceeds north through Saint Paul, where it intersects I-94, then continues north to Little Canada, where it runs east concurrently with I-694 for several miles before turning north through North Oaks to Washington County. I-35W crosses from Minneapolis to the west through Saint Anthony before turning north through New Brighton, where it intersects I-694, and then to Anoka County where it goes on to rejoin I-35E in Washington County.

Near the western edge of the county, I-94 enters from Minneapolis where it runs almost parallel to University Avenue until it meets I-35E in Saint Paul and continues east to Washington County. I-494 passes through the southeast corner of the county between Dakota and Washington Counties. From Anoka County in the west, I-694 takes a path through New Brighton, where it meets I-35W, to the junction with I-35E in Little Canada and finally to Washington County in the east.

Ramsey County is also accessible by several U.S. Highways, in particular US 10, US 52, and US 61. US 10 enters from Washington County in the south and continues north to meet I-94 just east of Saint Paul where it turns west to run concurrently with I-94, I-35E, I-694, and finally I-35W before continuing northwest to Anoka County. US 52 runs from South Saint Paul in Dakota County north to downtown Saint Paul where it meets I-94 and turns west to run concurrently with it all the way to the North Dakota border. From the south, US 61 runs concurrently with US 10 and then I-94 until it continues northeast on surface streets through the East Side of Saint Paul. From Saint Paul, US 61 continues north through Maplewood and White Bear Lake before crossing the border into Washington County.

In addition to these federal highways, Ramsey County is served by a number of Minnesota State Highways, including MN 36 and MN 51 which are divided highways for much of their length.

The county also has jurisdiction over 264.108 miles of County State Aid Highways as well as 21,031 miles of county roads and 59 bridges that are maintained and monitored by the Public Works Department of Ramsey County.

The primary airport serving Ramsey County is Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, located in neighboring Hennepin County. The only airport located in Ramsey County is Saint Paul Downtown Airport, a smaller commercial airport with three runways primarily used for general aviation and military operations.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	2,227		—
1860	12,150		445.6%
1870	23,085		90.0%
1880	45,890		98.8%
1890	139,796		204.6%
1900	170,554		22.0%
1910	223,675		31.1%
1920	244,554		9.3%
1930	286,721		17.2%
1940	309,935		8.1%
1950	355,332		14.6%
1960	422,525		18.9%
1970	476,255		12.7%
1980	459,784		−3.5%
1990	485,765		5.7%
2000	511,035		5.2%
2010	508,640		−0.5%
2020	552,352		8.6%
2023 (est.)	536,075		−2.9%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

Ramsey County, Minnesota - Demographic Profile
(NH = Non-Hispanic)

Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	340,194	320,477	66.89%	58.02%
Black or African American alone (NH)	54,835	70,101	10.78%	12.69%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	3,143	2,914	0.62%	0.53%
Asian alone (NH)	59,033	85,775	11.61%	15.53%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	195	214	0.04%	0.04%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	737	2,339	0.15%	0.42%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH)	14,020	25,498	2.76%	4.62%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	36,483	45,034	7.17%	8.15%
Total	508,640	552,352	100.00%	100.00%

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

As of the 2010 census, there were 508,640 people, 202,691 households, and 117,799 families living in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 70.1% White, 11.0% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 11.7% Asian, 2.9% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. 7.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the 2010–2015 American Community Survey, the largest ancestry groups were German (26.0%), Irish (11.5%), Norwegian (9.9%), and Swedish (7.4%).

At the 2000 census, there were 511,035 people, 201,236 households, and 119,936 families living in the county. The population density was 3,281 inhabitants per square mile (1,267/km). There were 206,448 housing units at an average density of 1,325 per square mile (512/km). The racial makeup of the county was 77.37% White, 7.61% Black or African American, 0.83% Native American, 8.77% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.45% from other races, and 2.90% from two or more races. 5.28% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 201,236 households, out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.00% were married couples living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.40% were non-families. 32.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the county, 25.60% of the population was under the age of 18, 11.30% from 18 to 24, 30.70% from 25 to 44, 20.70% from 45 to 64, and 11.60% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,722, and the median income for a family was $57,747. (These figures had risen to $53,141 and $71,485, respectively, as of 2008.) Males had a median income of $39,806 versus $30,814 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,536. About 7.40% of families and 10.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.

• Arden Hills
• Blaine (partial)
• Falcon Heights
• Gem Lake
• Lauderdale
• Little Canada
• Maplewood
• Mounds View
• New Brighton
• North Oaks
• North Saint Paul
• Roseville
• Saint Paul (county seat)
• Shoreview
• Spring Lake Park (partial)
• Saint Anthony (partial)
• Vadnais Heights
• White Bear Lake (partial)

• Mounds View Township (defunct)
• New Canada Township (defunct)
• Rose Township (defunct)
• White Bear Township

• Bald Eagle
• Bellaire

School districts include:

• Mounds View Public School District
• North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District
• Roseville Public School District
• St. Anthony-New Brighton Schools
• St. Paul Public School District
• White Bear Lake School District

Charter schools include:

• Hmong College Prep Academy
• Metro Deaf School

• Ramsey County Library
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Ramsey County, Minnesota

• Ramsey County government website
• Ramsey County Historical Society

45°01′N 93°06′W / 45.02°N 93.10°W / 45.02; -93.10