Grant County, Minnesota

A county in Minnesota, ranked 79 of 87 by population.

CountyFIPS 27051

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

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Population
6,085
-8 (-0.1%) since 2020
Land area
547.8
square miles. A further 4.8% of the total area is water
Population density
11.1
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Elbow Lake
Seat of county government.
Established
1868
157 years ago
Largest city
Elbow Lake city
Population 1,276.

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 Grant 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 Grant 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 792 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 Grant 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
Population6,08579th of 872,723rd of 3,144
Land area547.8 sq mi62nd of 871,905th of 3,144
Population density11.1 per sq mi70th of 872,527th of 3,144
Median household income$73,91746th of 87923rd of 3,143

Full data for Grant County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population6,085Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20206,093Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?6,075Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area547.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area27.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area575.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?11.1 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$73,917American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$191,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age43.2American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households2,490American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units3,137American 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
-10
56 births, 66 deaths
Net migration
-45
More people moved out than moved in.

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

The 6 areas bordering Grant 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
Douglas CountyMinnesota25 mi40,120
Stevens CountyMinnesota24 mi9,747
Otter Tail CountyMinnesota24 mi61,041
Traverse CountyMinnesota19 mi3,130
Wilkin CountyMinnesota6.0 mi6,288
Pope CountyMinnesotaa single point11,420

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.