Cottonwood County vs Watonwan County

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

Cottonwood 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.

Cottonwood County has the higher population (11,458 vs 11,169 in Watonwan County). Watonwan County has the higher median household income ($70,593 vs $68,239 in Cottonwood County). Cottonwood County has the higher median home value ($154,000 vs $151,600 in Watonwan County).

Population, income & housing

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
Population	11,458	11,169
Median age	41.3 yrs	40.6 yrs
Median household income	$68,239	$70,593
Median home value	$154,000	$151,600
Median gross rent	$765	$807
Housing units	5,163	4,904
Homeownership rate	76.1%	78.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.9%	18.2%
Unemployment rate	3.9%	5.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
Population	11,299 → 11,458 (+1.4%)	10,972 → 11,169 (+1.8%)
Median household income	$52,087 → $68,239 (+31.0%)	$54,065 → $70,593 (+30.6%)
Median home value	$94,200 → $154,000 (+63.5%)	$96,900 → $151,600 (+56.4%)
Median gross rent	$629 → $765 (+21.6%)	$669 → $807 (+20.6%)

Cottonwood County

Population

11,29911,458

Median household income

$52,087$68,239

Median home value

$94,200$154,000

Median gross rent

$629$765

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)

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
Under 5	6.3%	7.5%
5 to 17	18.8%	18.0%
18 to 24	7.2%	7.5%
25 to 34	11.3%	11.5%
35 to 44	11.0%	10.5%
45 to 54	9.7%	11.2%
55 to 64	13.0%	13.6%
65 to 74	11.8%	10.9%
75 and over	10.8%	9.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
White (non-Hispanic)	81.5%	69.4%
Black or African American	1.8%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.1%
Asian	3.4%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.8%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.6%	0.9%
Hispanic or Latino	10.5%	29.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
No high school diploma	7.6%	11.6%
High school graduate	35.2%	33.3%
Some college or associate's	34.3%	36.9%
Bachelor's degree	16.9%	13.4%
Graduate or professional degree	6.0%	4.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
Drove alone	74.2%	75.0%
Carpooled	9.6%	11.2%
Public transit	0.2%	1.8%
Walked	3.8%	4.4%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.1%
Worked from home	10.1%	6.8%
Other means	1.6%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
1-unit, detached	84.5%	78.9%
1-unit, attached	3.3%	1.8%
2 to 4 units	5.0%	4.3%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	5.2%
20 or more units	4.1%	4.6%
Mobile home & other	0.4%	5.2%

Poverty & households

	Cottonwood County	Watonwan County
Poverty rate	14.2%	13.0%
Average household size	2.38	2.55
Mean commute (minutes)	16	23
Median year structure built	1961	1961