Big Stone County vs Lake of the Woods County

A side-by-side comparison of Big Stone County and Lake of the Woods County: population, income, housing, and more.

Big Stone County and Lake of the Woods County are counties in Minnesota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Big Stone County has the higher population (5,152 vs 3,800 in Lake of the Woods County). Lake of the Woods County has the higher median household income ($70,091 vs $65,475 in Big Stone County). Lake of the Woods County has the higher median home value ($215,000 vs $135,700 in Big Stone County).

Population, income & housing

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
Population	5,152	3,800
Median age	47.4 yrs	50.8 yrs
Median household income	$65,475	$70,091
Median home value	$135,700	$215,000
Median gross rent	$718	$867
Housing units	2,984	3,457
Homeownership rate	79.4%	84.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.3%	21.4%
Unemployment rate	3.0%	1.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
Population	4,996 → 5,152 (+3.1%)	3,771 → 3,800 (+0.8%)
Median household income	$53,900 → $65,475 (+21.5%)	$49,967 → $70,091 (+40.3%)
Median home value	$97,900 → $135,700 (+38.6%)	$161,900 → $215,000 (+32.8%)
Median gross rent	$606 → $718 (+18.5%)	$678 → $867 (+27.9%)

Big Stone County

Population

4,9965,152

Median household income

$53,900$65,475

Median home value

$97,900$135,700

Median gross rent

$606$718

Lake of the Woods County

Population

3,7713,800

Median household income

$49,967$70,091

Median home value

$161,900$215,000

Median gross rent

$678$867

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
Under 5	6.2%	5.4%
5 to 17	15.9%	13.4%
18 to 24	5.6%	6.4%
25 to 34	9.9%	9.2%
35 to 44	10.5%	11.2%
45 to 54	9.7%	9.7%
55 to 64	15.6%	19.2%
65 to 74	13.8%	16.7%
75 and over	12.7%	8.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
White (non-Hispanic)	94.3%	90.7%
Black or African American	0.2%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	2.1%
Asian	0.8%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.2%
Two or more races	1.9%	5.8%
Hispanic or Latino	2.5%	0.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
No high school diploma	6.7%	3.9%
High school graduate	38.0%	35.0%
Some college or associate's	34.0%	39.7%
Bachelor's degree	13.0%	15.2%
Graduate or professional degree	8.3%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
Drove alone	74.3%	76.5%
Carpooled	9.6%	11.0%
Public transit	1.3%	0.0%
Walked	5.4%	6.9%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.4%
Worked from home	8.1%	4.9%
Other means	1.1%	0.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
1-unit, detached	82.8%	67.7%
1-unit, attached	1.8%	0.8%
2 to 4 units	1.8%	1.1%
5 to 19 units	3.5%	1.4%
20 or more units	4.2%	3.2%
Mobile home & other	5.8%	25.8%

Poverty & households

	Big Stone County	Lake of the Woods County
Poverty rate	11.5%	8.2%
Average household size	2.27	2.25
Mean commute (minutes)	19	18
Median year structure built	1957	1986