Chippewa County vs Watonwan County

A side-by-side comparison of Chippewa County and Watonwan County: population, income, housing, and more.

Chippewa County and Watonwan County are counties in Minnesota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Chippewa County has the higher population (12,388 vs 11,169 in Watonwan County). Watonwan County has the higher median household income ($70,593 vs $69,192 in Chippewa County). Watonwan County has the higher median home value ($151,600 vs $149,000 in Chippewa County).

Population, income & housing

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
Population	12,388	11,169
Median age	41.8 yrs	40.6 yrs
Median household income	$69,192	$70,593
Median home value	$149,000	$151,600
Median gross rent	$846	$807
Housing units	5,649	4,904
Homeownership rate	71.4%	78.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.6%	18.2%
Unemployment rate	4.4%	5.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
Population	11,953 → 12,388 (+3.6%)	10,972 → 11,169 (+1.8%)
Median household income	$55,269 → $69,192 (+25.2%)	$54,065 → $70,593 (+30.6%)
Median home value	$119,700 → $149,000 (+24.5%)	$96,900 → $151,600 (+56.4%)
Median gross rent	$613 → $846 (+38.0%)	$669 → $807 (+20.6%)

Chippewa County

Population

11,95312,388

Median household income

$55,269$69,192

Median home value

$119,700$149,000

Median gross rent

$613$846

Watonwan County

Population

10,97211,169

Median household income

$54,065$70,593

Median home value

$96,900$151,600

Median gross rent

$669$807

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
Under 5	6.2%	7.5%
5 to 17	17.4%	18.0%
18 to 24	7.8%	7.5%
25 to 34	11.9%	11.5%
35 to 44	11.6%	10.5%
45 to 54	9.7%	11.2%
55 to 64	13.9%	13.6%
65 to 74	11.6%	10.9%
75 and over	9.8%	9.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
White (non-Hispanic)	83.4%	69.4%
Black or African American	0.9%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.8%	0.1%
Asian	1.3%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	1.7%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.1%
Two or more races	0.9%	0.9%
Hispanic or Latino	9.9%	29.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
No high school diploma	9.9%	11.6%
High school graduate	33.4%	33.3%
Some college or associate's	37.1%	36.9%
Bachelor's degree	13.3%	13.4%
Graduate or professional degree	6.3%	4.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
Drove alone	78.0%	75.0%
Carpooled	10.5%	11.2%
Public transit	0.1%	1.8%
Walked	2.8%	4.4%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.1%
Worked from home	8.2%	6.8%
Other means	0.2%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
1-unit, detached	79.4%	78.9%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	1.8%
2 to 4 units	3.6%	4.3%
5 to 19 units	5.8%	5.2%
20 or more units	8.0%	4.6%
Mobile home & other	2.2%	5.2%

Poverty & households

	Chippewa County	Watonwan County
Poverty rate	14.4%	13.0%
Average household size	2.31	2.55
Mean commute (minutes)	18	23
Median year structure built	1957	1961