Scott County, Minnesota
Scott County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 150,928.[1] Its county seat is Shakopee.[2] The county was organized in 1853 and named in honor of General Winfield Scott. Scott County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is a member of the Metropolitan Council, and shares many of the council's concerns about responsible growth management, advocating for progressive development concepts such as clustering, open-space design, and the preservation of open space and rural/agricultural land.
The Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation is entirely within the county and within the cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee. Due to its proximity to major cities, the tribe has earned significant revenue at its gaming casinos and hotel; it has used funds to reinvest in economic development for the tribe and other initiatives.
Historically, the Minnesota River supported the county's fur trading, lumbering, and farming industries in the 19th century. Today, Scott County experiences a growing mix of commercial, industrial, and housing development, but is still primarily rural. Scott County is home to several historical, scenic, and entertainment destinations including Canterbury Park, The Landing, Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, Elko Speedway, Mystic Lake Casino run by the Shakopee-Mdewakanton Dakota; the Renaissance Festival, and Valleyfair Amusement Park.
History
[edit | edit source]Scott County was first inhabited by two bands of the Santee Sioux (Dakota) Indians, the Mdewakanton and Wahpeton. Their semi-nomadic life followed a seasonal cycle. They gathered food, hunted, fished, and planted corn. In the summer the Dakota villages were occupied but in the winter the groups separated for hunting. They had many permanent villages along the Minnesota River. They had many trails leading to these settlements and to the Red River Valley in the North, and the Prairie du Chien to the Southeast. These trails were later used by the fur traders and settlers, and were known as the "ox cart trails." The area of Scott County, as well as much of southern Minnesota, was opened for settlement by two treaties signed at Mendota and Traverse des Sioux, in 1851 and 1853. These treaties removed the Dakota Indians to reservations in upper Minnesota.
Scott County was established and organized by an Act passed in the legislature on March 5, 1853. The 369-square-mile (960 km2) county was named after General Winfield Scott. Settlers started entering the area in the mid-1850s. The Minnesota River and the ox cart trails were the primary transportation routes. The first settlers were Yankees, followed by groups of Germans, Irish, Czechs, and Scandinavians. They each brought their own traditions and religions. Most of these settlers became farmers. Fur trading, lumbering, and farming were Minnesota's major industries all throughout the 19th century. With the fast-growing farms, towns sprang up. Shakopee, the county seat, began in 1851 as a trading post by the Dakota Village of Chief Shakopee (or Shakpay). Other towns were established alongside transportation routes. When the railroads came to Minnesota, they became the primary mode of transportation, and eventually highways were developed along the ox cart trails between the communities.
Due to suburbanization, this once-rural county is changing dramatically. Cities are continually growing, as evidenced by an increase in population from roughly 90,000 in 2000 to more than 150,000 today, making Scott County one of Minnesota's fastest-growing counties.
Geography
[edit | edit source]According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has an area of 368 square miles (950 km2), of which 356 square miles (920 km2) is land and 12 square miles (31 km2) (3.2%) is water.[4] It is the third-smallest county in Minnesota by land area and second-smallest by total area.
The Minnesota River is the county's boundary in both the north and the west. The broad river valley juts through glacial sediment into some of the oldest rock known. Now mostly farmland, it was an oak savanna and a mixture of grass and clusters of trees that grew parallel to the river valley. The savanna bordered the "Big Woods," a "closed-forest savanna" that covered most of Minnesota before it was logged in the mid-19th century. Scott is one of 17 Minnesota savanna counties with more savanna soils than either forest or prairie soils. One example of native vegetation in Scott County:
Lakes
[edit | edit source]- Ahlswede Lake: in St. Lawrence Township
- Blue Lake: in Jackson Township
- Browns Lake: in St. Lawrence Township
- Campbell Lake: in Spring Lake Township
- Cedar Lake: western two-thirds is in Helena Township; eastern third is in Cedar Lake Township
- Cedar Lake: there is a smaller Cedar Lake in the eastern part of Cedar Lake Township
- Clark Lake: in Blakely Township
- Cleary Lake: mostly in Credit River; the western part stretches into Spring Lake Township
- Crystal Lake: in Spring Lake Township
- Cynthia Lake: northern two thirds is in Spring Lake Township; the rest is in Cedar Township
- Deans Lake: in Jackson Township
- Fish Lake: in Spring Lake Township
- Fisher Lake: in Jackson Township
- Gifford Lake: in Jackson Township
- Hanrahan Lake: in Jackson Township
- Hickey Lake: eastern two thirds is in Helena Township; western third is in Cedar Lake Township
- Horseshoe Lake: in St. Lawrence Township
- Howard Lake: in Jackson Township
- Kane Lake: in Spring Lake Township
- Lennon Lake: in Cedar Lake Township
- Lower Prior Lake: in the city of Prior Lake
- Markley Lake: eastern half is in Credit River; the western half is in Prior Lake
- McMahon Lake: in Spring Lake Township
- Mud Lake: in Cedar Lake Township
- Murphy Lake: in Credit River
- O'Dowd Lake: western third is in Louisville Township; eastern two thirds is in Jackson Township
- Pike Lake: in Jackson Township
- Pleasant Lake: in Helena Township
- Rice Lake: west half is in Cedar Lake Township; east half is in Dakota County
- Rice Lake: there is another Rice Lake in Jackson Township
- Rice Lake: there is a third Rice Lake in Spring Lake Township
- Schneider Lake: in Louisville Township
- Spring Lake: in Spring Lake Township and Prior Lake
- St. Catherine Lake: in Cedar Lake Township
- Thole Lake: in Louisville Township
- Upper Prior Lake: in Prior Lake
Major highways
[edit | edit source]
Interstate 35- Error creating thumbnail: U.S. Highway 169
- Error creating thumbnail: Minnesota State Highway 13
- Error creating thumbnail: Minnesota State Highway 19
- Error creating thumbnail: Minnesota State Highway 21
- Error creating thumbnail: Minnesota State Highway 25
- Error creating thumbnail: Minnesota State Highway 41
- Error creating thumbnail: Minnesota State Highway 282
- File:County 42 (MN).svg County Road 42
- File:County 101 (MN).svg County Road 101
- Other County Roads
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Adjacent counties
[edit | edit source]- Hennepin County (north)
- Dakota County (east)
- Rice County (southeast)
- Le Sueur County (southwest)
- Sibley County (west)
- Carver County (northwest)
National protected area
[edit | edit source]Demographics
[edit | edit source]2020 census
[edit | edit source]As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 150,928. The median age was 37.5 years. 27.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.0 males age 18 and over.[5][6]
The racial makeup of the county was 77.7% White, 5.4% Black or African American, 1.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 6.6% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.9% from some other race, and 6.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.0% of the population.[6]
81.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 18.1% lived in rural areas.[7]
There were 52,645 households in the county, of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 60.8% were married-couple households, 14.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 18.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[5]
There were 54,658 housing units, of which 3.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 81.3% were owner-occupied and 18.7% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%.[5]
Racial and ethnic composition
[edit | edit source]| Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 1980[8] | Pop 1990[9] | Pop 2000[10] | Pop 2010[11] | Pop 2020[12] | % 1980 | % 1990 | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 43,138 | 56,312 | 82,733 | 109,816 | 115,630 | 98.52% | 97.35% | 92.44% | 84.52% | 76.61% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 61 | 259 | 802 | 3,298 | 8,137 | 0.14% | 0.45% | 0.90% | 2.54% | 5.39% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 194 | 344 | 664 | 969 | 1,406 | 0.44% | 0.59% | 0.74% | 0.75% | 0.93% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 159 | 518 | 1,928 | 7,303 | 9,939 | 0.36% | 0.90% | 2.15% | 5.62% | 6.59% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) | x [13] | x [14] | 18 | 94 | 64 | x | x | 0.02% | 0.07% | 0.04% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 29 | 6 | 56 | 243 | 607 | 0.07% | 0.01% | 0.06% | 0.19% | 0.40% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | x [15] | x [16] | 916 | 2,434 | 6,137 | x | x | 1.02% | 1.87% | 4.07% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 203 | 407 | 2,381 | 5,771 | 9,008 | 0.46% | 0.70% | 2.66% | 4.44% | 5.97% |
| Total | 43,784 | 57,846 | 89,498 | 129,928 | 150,928 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Communities
[edit | edit source]Cities
[edit | edit source]- Belle Plaine
- Credit River
- Elko New Market
- Jordan
- New Prague (partly in Le Sueur County)
- Prior Lake
- Savage
- Shakopee (county seat)
Townships
[edit | edit source]Unincorporated communities
[edit | edit source]Politics
[edit | edit source]| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1892 | 760 | 26.86% | 1,937 | 68.47% | 132 | 4.67% |
| 1896 | 1,126 | 38.31% | 1,706 | 58.05% | 107 | 3.64% |
| 1900 | 996 | 37.70% | 1,588 | 60.11% | 58 | 2.20% |
| 1904 | 1,138 | 51.99% | 1,021 | 46.64% | 30 | 1.37% |
| 1908 | 1,045 | 39.29% | 1,548 | 58.20% | 67 | 2.52% |
| 1912 | 462 | 20.25% | 1,172 | 51.36% | 648 | 28.40% |
| 1916 | 972 | 40.86% | 1,361 | 57.21% | 46 | 1.93% |
| 1920 | 3,015 | 68.96% | 1,253 | 28.66% | 104 | 2.38% |
| 1924 | 1,324 | 29.29% | 829 | 18.34% | 2,367 | 52.37% |
| 1928 | 1,732 | 28.11% | 4,419 | 71.71% | 11 | 0.18% |
| 1932 | 1,134 | 18.75% | 4,878 | 80.64% | 37 | 0.61% |
| 1936 | 1,528 | 23.30% | 3,861 | 58.87% | 1,170 | 17.84% |
| 1940 | 4,241 | 59.13% | 2,910 | 40.57% | 21 | 0.29% |
| 1944 | 3,326 | 54.08% | 2,786 | 45.30% | 38 | 0.62% |
| 1948 | 2,583 | 37.25% | 4,278 | 61.69% | 74 | 1.07% |
| 1952 | 4,277 | 56.23% | 3,315 | 43.58% | 14 | 0.18% |
| 1956 | 4,148 | 54.59% | 3,431 | 45.16% | 19 | 0.25% |
| 1960 | 3,671 | 37.68% | 6,061 | 62.21% | 11 | 0.11% |
| 1964 | 3,311 | 31.32% | 7,248 | 68.57% | 11 | 0.10% |
| 1968 | 4,632 | 39.13% | 6,656 | 56.23% | 549 | 4.64% |
| 1972 | 7,310 | 50.85% | 6,745 | 46.92% | 321 | 2.23% |
| 1976 | 7,154 | 40.66% | 9,912 | 56.34% | 527 | 3.00% |
| 1980 | 9,018 | 45.00% | 9,115 | 45.49% | 1,905 | 9.51% |
| 1984 | 12,573 | 56.81% | 9,452 | 42.71% | 108 | 0.49% |
| 1988 | 13,050 | 52.87% | 11,405 | 46.20% | 230 | 0.93% |
| 1992 | 10,936 | 33.95% | 11,225 | 34.84% | 10,055 | 31.21% |
| 1996 | 12,734 | 38.77% | 14,657 | 44.62% | 5,456 | 16.61% |
| 2000 | 23,954 | 54.70% | 17,503 | 39.97% | 2,336 | 5.33% |
| 2004 | 36,055 | 59.46% | 23,958 | 39.51% | 626 | 1.03% |
| 2008 | 36,724 | 54.70% | 29,208 | 43.51% | 1,200 | 1.79% |
| 2012 | 40,323 | 56.28% | 29,712 | 41.47% | 1,612 | 2.25% |
| 2016 | 39,948 | 53.24% | 28,502 | 37.99% | 6,579 | 8.77% |
| 2020 | 45,872 | 52.15% | 40,040 | 45.52% | 2,053 | 2.33% |
| 2024 | 47,837 | 53.07% | 40,214 | 44.61% | 2,090 | 2.32% |
| 2016 | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 33.33% |
In its early history Scott County was heavily Democratic due to being largely German Catholic and opposed to the pietistic Scandinavian Lutheran Republican Party of that era. It would never vote Republican until Theodore Roosevelt swept every Minnesota county in 1904[18] but anti-Woodrow Wilson feeling from World War I caused the county to shift overwhelmingly to Warren G. Harding in 1920 before swinging to Robert La Follette, coreligionist Al Smith and fellow “wet” Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1936 the county's isolationism gave a powerful vote to William Lemke’s Union Party,[19] and apart from Harry Truman’s Farm Belt appeal in the 1948 election Scott County would turn Republican until another Catholic nominee, John F. Kennedy, returned it to the Democratic ranks. However, since the “Reagan Revolution”, Scott County has become solidly Republican voting, with no Democrat gaining a majority of the county's vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976, although Carter in 1980 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 won pluralities.
Although a conservative stronghold in modern times, the suburban voters of Scott County, like those elsewhere, tend to be more liberal on social issues. For example, while Mitt Romney handily won Scott County in 2012, voters also rejected a proposed amendment to the Minnesota constitution that would have banned same-sex marriage.[20]
Federal government
[edit | edit source]- Angie Craig (D-MN-2)
State government
[edit | edit source]- Rich Draheim (R-SD-20)
- Eric Pratt (R-SD-54)
- Lindsey Port (DFL-SD-55)
- Brian Pfarr (R-HD-20A)
- Brad Tabke (DFL-HD-54A)
- Ben Bakeberg (R-HD-54B)
- Jessica Hanson (DFL-HD-55A)
Scott County is Located in the First Judicial District of Minnesota District Court.
County government
[edit | edit source]Executive
- Attorney's Office: Ron Hocevar
- Sheriff's Office: Luke Hennen
Hennepin County, Dakota County, and Scott County share a joint Medical Examiner
Legislative: Scott County Board of Commissioners
- Barb Weckman Brekke (1)
- Tom Wolf (2)
- Jody Brennan (3) -- Vice Chair
- Dave Beer (4)
- Jon Ulrich (5) -- Chair
Judicial
- Scott County's court system is Scott County District Court.
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ↑ Nelson, Steven (2011). Savanna Soils of Minnesota. Minnesota: Self. pp. 43 - 48. ISBN 978-0-615-50320-2.
- ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)". United States Census Bureau. 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)". United States Census Bureau. 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
- ↑ "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)". United States Census Bureau. 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
- ↑ "1980 Census of Population - General Social and Economic Characteristics - Minnesota - Tables 15 and 16 – Race by Sex: 1980 and Tables 16 and 17 – Persons by Spanish Origin, Race, and Sex: 1980" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. p. 13-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2022 – via Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "1990 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Minnesota: Table 4-6 - Race and Hispanic Origin" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. p. 17-79. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 24, 2026 – via Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Scott County, Minnesota". United States Census Bureau.
- ↑ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Scott County, Minnesota". United States Census Bureau.
- ↑ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Scott County, Minnesota". United States Census Bureau.
- ↑ included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
- ↑ included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
- ↑ not an option in the 1980 Census
- ↑ not an option in the 1990 Census
- ↑ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ↑ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 228-233 ISBN 0786422173
- ↑ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 428-430 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
- ↑ "2012 Referendum General Election Results - Minnesota". Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
External links
[edit | edit source]Template:Scott County, Minnesota Template:Minnesota Coordinates: 44°39′N 93°32′W / 44.65°N 93.53°W