While the United States Census Bureau has yet to release its final national head count numbers to the public, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s has been releasing numbers on its website and, as expected, Wright County continues to grow at a fast pace.
Wright County was the third-fast growing county in Minnesota over the last decade, growing from 124,700 in the 2010 Census to 141,337 in the 2020 Census – an increase of 13.3 percent. Here are some of the facts coming out of the preliminary numbers, as well as a full listing of cities and township populations.
- The only counties that grew at a faster rate than Wright County were Scott and Carver.
- Because of its continued growth over the last 50 years, the 13.3 percent increase in population is the lowest since the 1960 Census. Since then, the growth rate in 1970 was 30.1 percent, 50.7 percent in 1980, 17.1 percent in 1990, 31.0 percent in 2000 and 38.6 percent in 2010.
- Since 1990, the population of Wright County has gone from 68,710 to 141,337 – an increase of 206 percent.
- Otsego was the 14th fastest growing city in the state, growing from 13,571 residents in 2010 to 19,966 in 2020 – an increase of 6,395 residents (47.1 percent).
- Six cities grew at or above the county rate of 13.3 percent – Otsego (47.1 percent), Waverly (40.0 percent), Montrose (32.6 percent), Hanover (23.7 percent), Delano (18.7 percent) and Monticello (13.3 percent).
- Since becoming the county seat in 1868, for almost 150 years Buffalo was the largest city in Wright County. That changed in 2010 when St. Michael surpassed Buffalo in population. Buffalo now ranks third behind Otsego and St. Michael – largely because Buffalo grew by just 4.6 percent over the last 10 years.
- There are now more than 100,000 people living in Wright County cities. A total of 108,318 residents live in Wright County’s 17 cities – an increase of 16.4 percent from 2010.
- Township population grew just 4.3 percent over the last 10 years – from 31,668 to 33,019.
- Only three jurisdictions saw a reduction in population from 2010 to 2020 – Marysville Township (from 2,147 to 2,020) Dayton (from 54 to 50) and South Haven (from 187 to 185).
- Two townships grew by more than 9 percent (more than double the county average) – Silver Creek Township (9.6 percent) and Corinna Township (9.4 percent).
CITY/TOWNSHIP 2010 POP. 2020 POP. DIFFERENCE
Albertville City 7,044 7,896 852 (12.1 percent)
Albion Township 1,255 1,264 9 (0.7 percent)
Annandale City 3,228 3,330 102 (3.2 percent)
Buffalo City 15,453 16,168 715 (4.6 percent)
Buffalo Township 1,804 1,883 79 (4.4 percent)
Chatham Township 1,302 1,362 60 (4.6 percent)
Clearwater City 1,735 1,918 183 (10.5 percent)
Clearwater Township 1,306 1,372 66 (5.1 percent)
Cokato City 2,694 2,799 105 (3.9 percent)
Cokato Township 1,311 1,369 58 (4.4 percent)
Corinna Township 2,322 2,540 218 (9.4 percent)
Dayton City 54 50 -4 (-7.4 percent)
Delano City 5,464 6,484 1,020 (18.7 percent)
Franklin Township 2,760 2,885 125 (4.5 percent)
French Lake Township 1,172 1,213 41 (3.5 percent)
Hanover City 2,329 2,882 553 (23.7 percent)
Howard Lake City 1,962 2,071 109 (5.6 percent)
Maple Lake City 2,059 2,159 100 (4.9 percent)
Maple Lake Township 2,048 2,144 96 (4.7 percent)
Marysville Township 2,147 2,020 -127 (-5.9 percent)
Middleville Township 937 1,009 72 (7.7 percent)
Monticello City 12,759 14,455 1,696 (13.3 percent)
Monticello Township 3,181 3,309 128 (4.0 percent)
Montrose City 2,847 3,775 928 (32.6 percent)
Otsego City 13,571 19,966 6,395 (47.1 percent)
Rockford City 3,890 4,045 155 (4.0 percent)
Rockford Township 3,194 3,371 177 (5.5 percent)
St. Michael City 16,399 18,235 1,836 (11.2 percent)
Silver Creek Township 2,335 2,559 224 (9.6 percent)
South Haven City 187 185 -2 (-1.1 percent)
Southside Township 1,521 1,526 5 (0.3 percent)
Stockholm Township 959 986 27 (2.8 percent)
Victor Township 1,032 1,053 21 (2.0 percent)
Waverly City 1,357 1,900 543 (40.0 percent)
Woodland Township 1,082 1,154 72 (6.7 percent)
TOTAL 124,700 141,337 16,637 (13.3 percent)
CITY TOTAL 93,032 108,318 15,286 (16.4 percent)
TOWNSHIP TOTAL 31,668 33,019 1,351 (4.3 percent)