County Maps US

Brown County, Minnesota

A county in Minnesota, ranked 42 of 87 by population.

CountyFIPS 27015

Within Minnesota
Brown County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks New Ulm, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
25,517
-391 (-1.5%) since 2020
Land area
611.1
square miles. A further 1.2% of the total area is water
Population density
41.8
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
New Ulm
Seat of county government.
Established
1855
170 years ago
Largest city
New Ulm city
Population 13,863.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Brown County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Brown County, Minnesota from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 612 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Brown County ranks

Position among the 87 counties of Minnesota, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MinnesotaNationally
Population25,51742nd of 871,605th of 3,144
Land area611.1 sq mi51st of 871,583rd of 3,144
Population density41.8 per sq mi33rd of 871,635th of 3,144
Median household income$69,37872nd of 871,244th of 3,143

Full data for Brown County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population25,517Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202025,908Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?25,915Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area611.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area7.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area618.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?41.8 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$69,378American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$191,200American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households11,027American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units11,827American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-69
237 births, 306 deaths
Net migration
+16
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Brown County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Nicollet CountyMinnesota44 mi34,273
Redwood CountyMinnesota33 mi15,265
Watonwan CountyMinnesota24 mi11,459
Cottonwood CountyMinnesota18 mi11,405
Blue Earth CountyMinnesota11 mi70,634
Renville CountyMinnesota8.8 mi14,356

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 87 counties of Minnesota

Open the interactive Minnesota county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.