Cook County, Minnesota Demographics

Population trends, housing costs, income, commuting, and health, all on one page.

Cook County, MN Population Density Map and Area Scores

Area Score

Health, income and education, each graded from F to A+. Explore interactive maps for deeper analysis.

  • B
    Health Around average
  • B
    Income Around average
  • B
    Education Around average
    Better educated than 93% of counties in Minnesota

Source: Map AI Methodology

Cook County
Click a county to open it Explore the map →
Population density, people per sq mi

Population: density and quick facts

Metric Cook County Minnesota Avg U.S. Average
Population 5,635 5,724,000 337,468,954
Population density (per sq mi) 1.7 65.8 86.4
Population growth (%/yr) 0.98% 0.64% 0.59%
Median age 50.2 37.1 37.3
Households 2,710 2,299,361 130,235,071

Population in Cook County grew by 4.2% from 2009 to 2024, reaching 5,635 in 2024.

Population Growth 2009–2024

Year Cook County

Race & Ethnicity

Group Share

Age & Sex

The largest generation in Cook County is Boomers, aged 61–79, at 28.5% of residents. That is 12.0 points above Minnesota as a whole.

Residents by birth cohort, from the 2025 age distribution. The right-hand figure is how far each cohort's share sits above or below Minnesota, in percentage points. Children younger than Gen Z and the generations before the Boomers are counted in the population but not shown here, so these shares do not add up to 100%.

Male and female share

Women are 50.5% of the people living in Cook County and men 49.5%.

How many residents match a customer profile?

Who to count

Residents matching this profile

5,635

100% of everyone living in Cook County

Pick an age range and a women/men split and the figure above answers with how many residents that profile reaches.

Economy

Cook County has a the economy index of B, which means it is quite prosperous.

Metric Cook County Minnesota Avg U.S. Average
Median household income $71,249 $89,852 $80,455
Income growth (%/yr) 4.14% 4.43% 4.80%
Unemployment rate 2.2% 4.1% 5.2%

The median household income in Cook County is about 21% lower than in Minnesota.

Detailed wealth and income breakdown →

Housing

Metric Cook County Minnesota Avg U.S. Average
Median home price $425,000 $236,718 $248,835
Median rent $885 $1,280 $1,407
Homeownership rate 77.7% 72.2% 65.2%

The median home price in Cook County is about 40.0 years' worth of rent — buying at the median price costs roughly as much as paying the median rent of $885 per month for that long.

Full housing market analysis →

Commute Time & Mobility

Commuters in Cook County spend about 22 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 93 hours, about 3.9 full days, spent commuting.

Metric Cook County Minnesota Avg U.S. Average
One-way commute (min) 11.2 20.3 22.4
Round-trip commute (min) 22.4 40.6 44.8
Yearly time spent (hours) 93 169 187
Estimated yearly cost $2,898 $5,249 $5,790
Work from home 21.6% 17.6% 15.0%
Highway traffic (vehicles/day) 1,026 7,066 8,813
Local road traffic (vehicles/day) 175 854 1,355

Fastest commutes among counties in Minnesota: Brown County (10.6 min), Pennington County (10.8 min), Cottonwood County (10.9 min).
Slowest: Chisago County (30.9 min), Wright County (28.8 min), Sherburne County (28.8 min).

The average commute time in Cook County is 11 minutes, shorter than the 20 minutes in Minnesota.

Estimated yearly cost applies a single national wage rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area. Traffic volume figures come from proprietary Ticon and TrafficZoom data.

Commute and transport details →

Education & Households

Cook County has a education index of B, which means it is quite educated.

Metric Cook County Minnesota Avg U.S. Average
Bachelor's degree or higher 45.5% 35.5% 31.6%
Average household size 2.05 2.43 2.53

Highest education index among counties in Minnesota: Hennepin County (0.4), Olmsted County (0.4), Carver County (0.4).
Lowest: Nobles County (0.2), Mahnomen County (0.2), Watonwan County (0.2).

Health

Cook County has a health index of B, which means it is quite healthy.

Metric Cook County Minnesota Avg U.S. Average
Life expectancy (years) 81.4 80.8 78.3
Self-rated poor health 12.3% 13.0% 16.3%
Smokers 15.7% 18.5% 19.0%

Highest health index among counties in Minnesota: Carver County (0.8), Washington County (0.8), Stevens County (0.8).
Lowest: Mahnomen County (0.8), Clearwater County (0.8), Beltrami County (0.8).

Full health data →

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Cook County, Minnesota.

What is the population of Cook County, Minnesota?

About 5,635 people live in Cook County, Minnesota, in 2,710 households of 2.1 people on average. The median age is 50.2, so residents are older than the U.S. median of 37.3 by about 13 years.

Is Cook County, Minnesota urban or rural?

Averaged over its land area, Cook County, Minnesota has 2 people per square mile, a density typical of rural areas. That is about 2% of the U.S. average of 86.

Can a typical household afford a home in Cook County, Minnesota?

The median home costs 6.0 times the median household income ($425,000 against $71,249), compared with 3.1 times nationally. A ratio of about 3 is traditionally considered affordable. Median rent of $885 a month takes about 15% of the median household's income, below the 30% level at which HUD considers renters cost-burdened.

Is it hard to find a job in Cook County, Minnesota?

Unemployment in Cook County, Minnesota is only 2.2%, well below the U.S. rate of 5.2%, a sign of a tight labor market where employers compete for workers.

How common is a college degree in Cook County, Minnesota?

45.5% of adults in Cook County, Minnesota hold a bachelor's degree or higher (about 1 in 2), well above the U.S. share of 31.6%.

Analyze any area in the US

Get local demographics for any address, aggregated by drive time or radius, on the interactive map.

Explore the map →