Watonwan County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,253. Its county seat is St. James.

In 1849, the new territorial legislature of the recently organized Minnesota Territory authorized the creation of nine large counties across the Territory. Four years later in 1853, one of those original counties of Dakota, had a large area separated and partitioned off to create Blue Earth County. Less than only two years later, by 1855, the western part of Blue Earth was then partitioned to create Brown County. Again, after five years on February 25, 1860, the southern part of Brown was partitioned to create this county of Watanwan, with the town of Madelia as the original designated County Seat. The county was named for its eponymous river, (Watonwan River, which flows into the Blue Earth River, then the Minnesota River, then eventually into the "Father of Waters" - the Mississippi River, which drains the entire middle of the North American continent), whose name reflects the Dakota native word "watanwan," meaning "fish bait" or "plenty of fish." The word first appears in the modern written record on an 1843 map of the area so naming the river.

In 1869, the first European white settlers arrived in the area of the future town of Saint James, and the area began growing. In the next year of 1870 an extension of the St. Paul and Sioux City Railway was terminated at the village, and railway officials decided to name the terminus Saint James. By 1878, that town had grown to the extent that a vote was taken in the county to move the county seat and courthouse there from Madelia .

The terrain of Watonwan County consists of low rolling hills, carved by drainages and dotted with lakes and ponds. The area is completely devoted to agriculture where possible. The terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point near its southwest corner, at 1,293 ft (394 m) ASL. The county has an area of 440 square miles (1,100 km), of which 435 square miles (1,130 km) is land and 4.8 square miles (12 km) (1.1%) is water. The county is drained by the Watonwan River and its tributaries; the river flows eastward through the northern part of the county.

• St. James Municipal Airport (JYG, LID) - 3 miles (4.8 km) east of St. James

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	2,426		—
1880	5,104		110.4%
1890	7,746		51.8%
1900	11,496		48.4%
1910	11,332		−1.4%
1920	12,457		9.9%
1930	12,802		2.8%
1940	13,902		8.6%
1950	13,881		−0.2%
1960	14,460		4.2%
1970	13,298		−8.0%
1980	12,361		−7.0%
1990	11,682		−5.5%
2000	11,876		1.7%
2010	11,211		−5.6%
2020	11,253		0.4%
2023 (est.)	11,077		−1.6%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

Watonwan County Racial Composition

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	7,689	68.33%
Black or African American (NH)	42	0.37%
Native American (NH)	13	0.12%
Asian (NH)	86	0.76%
Pacific Islander (NH)	0	0%
Other/Mixed (NH)	196	1.74%
Hispanic or Latino	3,227	28.7%

As of the United States Decenial census of 2000, there were 11,876 people, 4,627 households, and 3,141 families in the county. The population density was 27.3 per square mile (10.5/km). There were 5,036 housing units at an average density of 11.6 per square mile (4.5/km). The racial makeup of the county was 88.54% White, 0.37% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 8.78% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. 15.19% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 40.9% were of German, 17.3% Norwegian and 5.8% Swedish ancestry.

There were 4,627 households, out of which 32.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.60% were married couples living together, 7.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.10.

The county population contained 27.60% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 24.30% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 18.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,441, and the median income for a family was $42,321. Males had a median income of $29,242 versus $19,788 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,413. About 7.80% of families and 9.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.50% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.

Watonwan County has had its county seat and site of the Watonwan County Courthouse in the town of St. James, Minnesota since 1878, when it was moved from nearby Madelia where it had been located since the partition of the county from Brown County. Watowan's public citizenry of voters have tended to vote for the Republican Party; in three-quarters of the past 12 presidential elections years since 1980, the majority of county voters had selected the Republican Party's presidential and vice presidential nominees (as of 2024). But there are active party organizations and groups for both Republican, Democratic-Farmer-Labor and independent unaffiliated voting citizens of both conservative and liberal / progressive views.

United States presidential election results for Watonwan County, Minnesota

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	3,087	62.58%	1,723	34.93%	123	2.49%
2020	3,103	59.66%	1,987	38.20%	111	2.13%
2016	2,768	55.38%	1,814	36.29%	416	8.32%
2012	2,517	48.93%	2,494	48.48%	133	2.59%
2008	2,526	48.04%	2,562	48.73%	170	3.23%
2004	2,970	53.20%	2,514	45.03%	99	1.77%
2000	2,562	49.90%	2,258	43.98%	314	6.12%
1996	1,997	37.74%	2,534	47.89%	760	14.36%
1992	1,871	33.54%	2,100	37.65%	1,607	28.81%
1988	2,821	52.10%	2,544	46.98%	50	0.92%
1984	3,526	58.98%	2,425	40.57%	27	0.45%
1980	3,629	55.09%	2,442	37.07%	516	7.83%
1976	3,351	50.30%	3,177	47.69%	134	2.01%
1972	3,960	63.35%	2,229	35.66%	62	0.99%
1968	3,446	53.57%	2,701	41.99%	286	4.45%
1964	2,823	43.80%	3,615	56.09%	7	0.11%
1960	4,173	63.28%	2,412	36.57%	10	0.15%
1956	3,963	67.62%	1,886	32.18%	12	0.20%
1952	4,549	72.02%	1,752	27.74%	15	0.24%
1948	2,581	45.30%	3,039	53.33%	78	1.37%
1944	3,146	57.27%	2,324	42.31%	23	0.42%
1940	3,478	55.30%	2,783	44.25%	28	0.45%
1936	1,930	33.44%	3,668	63.55%	174	3.01%
1932	1,919	39.62%	2,795	57.71%	129	2.66%
1928	3,306	69.69%	1,412	29.76%	26	0.55%
1924	2,297	53.57%	279	6.51%	1,712	39.93%
1920	3,510	81.40%	647	15.00%	155	3.59%
1916	1,300	59.94%	801	36.93%	68	3.14%
1912	254	12.22%	618	29.74%	1,206	58.04%
1908	1,411	70.44%	537	26.81%	55	2.75%
1904	1,455	79.95%	307	16.87%	58	3.19%
1900	1,509	71.93%	509	24.26%	80	3.81%
1896	1,622	71.99%	586	26.01%	45	2.00%
1892	934	62.68%	388	26.04%	168	11.28%

County Board of Commissioners

Position		Name	District	Next election
	Commissioner	Jim Pettersen	District 1	2024
	Commissioner	Bill Miller	District 2	2026
	Commissioner	Jim Branstad	District 3	2024
	Commissioner	Scott Westerman	District 4	2026
	Commissioner	Dillon Melheim	District 5	2024

State Legislature (2021-2023)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	Senate	Julie Rosen	Republican	District 23
	House of Representatives	Bjorn Olson	Republican	District 23A
	House of Representatives	Jeremy Munson	Republican	District 23B

U.S Congress (2021-2023)

Position		Name	Affiliation	District
	House of Representatives	Brad Finstad	Republican	1st
	Senate	Amy Klobuchar	Democrat	N/A
	Senate	Tina Smith	Democrat	N/A

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

• John A. Brown (ed.), History of Cottonwood and Watonwan counties, Minnesota: Their People, Industries, and Institutions: With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families. In Two Volumes. Indianapolis, IN: B.F. Bowen and Company, 1916. Volume 1 | Volume 2

43°59′N 94°37′W / 43.98°N 94.61°W / 43.98; -94.61