Anoka County, Minnesota

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Anoka County (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is the fourth-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, its population was 363,887.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The county seat and namesake of the county is the city of Anoka,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which is derived from the Dakota word Template:Lang meaning "on (or from) both sides", referring to its location on both banks of the Rum River.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The largest city in the county is Blaine, the tenth-largest city in Minnesota and the sixth-largest Twin Cities suburb.

Anoka County comprises the north portion of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul statistical area, the largest metropolitan area in the state and the 16th-largest in the United States with about 3.64 million residents.

The county is bordered by the counties of Isanti on the north, Chisago and Washington on the east, Hennepin and Ramsey on the south, Sherburne on the west, and the Mississippi River on the southwest. The Rum River cuts through the county and was the site of many early European settlements. It was a common route to the Mille Lacs Lake, the spiritual homeland of the Ojibwe people. Father Louis Hennepin traveled the river in his first exploration of the region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The area became a center of fur trade and logging as French and French Canadian communities grew in the cities of Anoka and Centerville.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Organized in 1857, the county's southern border eventually met Minneapolis and has become a predominantly suburban area following the construction of Interstate 35W. The county is home to local Twin Cities destinations such as the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights and Northtown Mall and the National Sports Center in Blaine.

File:Anoka Co Chart 2015 No Text Version.pdf

Soils of Anoka County<ref>Nelson, Steven (2011). Savanna Soils of Minnesota. Minnesota: Self. pp. 61-64. Template:ISBN Template:Self-published source</ref>

File:Springbrook Nature Center Area New Wiki Version.JPG

Soils of Springbrook Nature Center area

History

Anoka County was organized by an act of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature on May 23, 1857, the year prior to Minnesota's admission to the Union. It was formed from parts of Ramsey County and Benton County; the Rum River previously formed the line between the two counties. The boundaries were mainly the same as they are now, except for a small part of the southeastern tip along the Mississippi River and at the south, formerly known as Manomin County. It was a small portion that connected to Ramsey and occupied one-third of the congressional township. It was then attached to Anoka County by constitutional amendment November 2, 1869. It became known as Fridley in 1879.

The first European descendants to explore what is now Anoka County were Franciscan friar Louis Hennepin and his party. Fur traders soon began to settle in the area that is now Ramsey County. They settled on the Rum River and more people were attracted to the area now called Anoka.

Geography

The Mississippi River flows southeasterly along the county's southwestern boundary. The Rum River flows southerly through the western part of the county, discharging into the Mississippi at the county's southwestern boundary. The terrain consists of low, rolling, wooded hills.<ref name="ACM">Anoka County MN Google Maps (accessed March 4, 2019)</ref> The terrain slopes to the south and east; its highest point is a small hillock Template:Convert east of the county's northwest corner, at Template:Convert ASL.<ref>Anoka County High Point, Minnesota. PeakBagger.com (accessed May 4, 2019)</ref> Otherwise the terrain's highest point is along the western part of the north boundary line, at Template:Convert ASL.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert (5.2%) are covered by water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lakes

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Baldwin Lake
Bunker Lake
Cedar Lake
Centerville Lake
Coon Lake
Crooked Lake
George Watch Lake
Golden Lake
Ham Lake
Laddie Lake
Lake George
Marshan Lake
McKay Lake
Moore Lake
Peltier Lake
Reshanau Lake
Rice Lake
Round Lake
Sherman Lake
Spring Lake
Smith Lake
Wards Lake

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Waterways

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Cedar Creek
Coon Creek
Crooked Brook
Ford Brook
Hardwood Creek
Mahoney Brook
Mississippi River
Rice Creek
Rum River
Sand Creek
Seelye Brook
Trott Brook
Pheasant creek

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Bethel Wildlife Management Area
Boot Lake Scientific and Natural Area
Bunker Hills Regional Park
Carl E Bonnell Wildlife Management Area
Carlos Avery State Wildlife Management Area
Cedar Creek Conservation Area
Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park
East Bethel Booster Park
Gordie Mikkelson Wildlife Management Area
Helen Allison Savanna Scientific and Natural Area
Lake George Regional Park
Martin Island-Linwood Lakes Regional Park
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (part)
Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Preserve
Robert and Marilyn Burman Wildlife Management Area

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Climate and weather

Template:See also Template:Climate chart Anoka County has a hot-summer humid continental climate zone (Dfa in the Köppen climate classification),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> typical of southern parts of the Upper Midwest, and is situated in USDA plant hardiness zone 4b.<ref>Normals, Means, and Extremes for Minneapolis/Saint Paul (1971–2000) Template:Webarchive: Mean of Extreme Mins for January</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As is typical in a continental climate, the difference between average temperatures in the coldest winter month and the warmest summer month is great: Template:Convert. In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Anoka have ranged from a low of Template:Convert in January to a high of Template:Convert in July, although a record low of Template:Convert was recorded in January 2019 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in July 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in February to Template:Convert in July.<ref name=WX/>

Demographics

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2020 census

**Anoka County, Minnesota - Demographic Profile**
(*NH = Non-Hispanic*)
Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2020<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	281,929	276,205	85.22%	75.90%
Black or African American alone (NH)	14,282	28,378	4.32%	7.80%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	1,994	1,912	0.60%	0.52%
Asian alone (NH)	12,796	19,158	3.87%	5.27%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	91	93	0.03%	0.03%
Some other race alone (NH)	378	1,401	0.11%	0.39%
Mixed/multiracial (NH)	7,354	17,234	2.22%	4.74%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	12,020	19,506	3.63%	5.36%
Total	330,844	363,887	100.00%	100.00%

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, 330,844 people were in the county.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2000 census

File:AnokaCountyMn2022PopPyr.png

2022 US Census population pyramid for Anoka County, from ACS 5-year estimates

As of the census of 2000, 298,084 people, 106,428 households, and 79,395 families resided in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. The 108,091 housing units had an average density of Template:Convert.

At the time of the 2000 Census, the racial makeup of the county was 93.64% White, 1.60% African American, 0.70% Native American, 1.69% Asian, 0.67% from other races, and 1.71 percent from two or more races; 1.66% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. The 2000 Census found 30.2% were of German, 14.3% Norwegian, 9.0% Swedish, 7.3% Irish, and 5.9% Polish ancestry.

Of the 106,428 households, 39.9% had children under 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were not families. About 19.3% were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.77, and the average family size was 3.19.

The county's age distribution was 28.9% under 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.10 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 99.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $57,754, and for a family was $64,261. Males had a median income of $41,527 versus $30,534 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,297. About 2.90% of families and 4.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.90% of those under age 18 and 4.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Anoka County was once one of the most Democratic suburban counties in any metropolitan area nationwide and one of the rare few to have trended Republican in the 21st century. On a national level, Anoka County has voted for the Republican presidential candidate from 2000 onward, though with the margins remaining within 3% outside of 2004, 2016, and 2024. However, incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor Senator Amy Klobuchar defeated Jim Newberger by over 20,000 votes here in the 2018 midterms; Klobuchar also won this county in 2006, 2012, 2018, and 2024. Despite this, Republican Karin Housley narrowly defeated Democrat Tina Smith in the concurrent Senate special election in 2018, despite Smith winning the overall election by a margin over 10 points. Incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor Governor Tim Walz also won Anoka County in his initial gubernatorial bid narrowly by less than 300 votes. However, Anoka County would flip Republican in the ensuing 2022 Governors Race.