Freeborn County vs Polk County

A side-by-side comparison of Freeborn County and Polk County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Polk County has the higher population (30,905 vs 30,752 in Freeborn County). Polk County has the higher median household income ($69,136 vs $69,012 in Freeborn County). Polk County has the higher median home value ($211,100 vs $164,900 in Freeborn County).

Population, income & housing

	Freeborn County	Polk County
Population	30,752	30,905
Median age	43.9 yrs	39.5 yrs
Median household income	$69,012	$69,136
Median home value	$164,900	$211,100
Median gross rent	$837	$843
Housing units	14,116	14,670
Homeownership rate	79.3%	72.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.1%	28.1%
Unemployment rate	3.8%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Freeborn County	Polk County
Population	30,463 → 30,752 (+0.9%)	31,521 → 30,905 (-2.0%)
Median household income	$53,631 → $69,012 (+28.7%)	$59,343 → $69,136 (+16.5%)
Median home value	$113,800 → $164,900 (+44.9%)	$165,000 → $211,100 (+27.9%)
Median gross rent	$681 → $837 (+22.9%)	$716 → $843 (+17.7%)

Freeborn County

Population

30,46330,752

Median household income

$53,631$69,012

Median home value

$113,800$164,900

Median gross rent

$681$837

Polk County

Population

31,52130,905

Median household income

$59,343$69,136

Median home value

$165,000$211,100

Median gross rent

$716$843

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Freeborn County	Polk County
Under 5	5.2%	6.3%
5 to 17	16.7%	18.3%
18 to 24	6.8%	8.0%
25 to 34	11.1%	12.0%
35 to 44	11.4%	12.2%
45 to 54	11.2%	10.7%
55 to 64	14.8%	13.7%
65 to 74	12.5%	10.6%
75 and over	10.3%	8.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Freeborn County	Polk County
White (non-Hispanic)	82.2%	84.7%
Black or African American	1.2%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	1.0%
Asian	3.1%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.8%
Two or more races	2.5%	3.8%
Hispanic or Latino	10.6%	6.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Freeborn County	Polk County
No high school diploma	10.1%	6.8%
High school graduate	33.1%	28.1%
Some college or associate's	38.7%	37.0%
Bachelor's degree	12.3%	20.4%
Graduate or professional degree	5.8%	7.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Freeborn County	Polk County
Drove alone	80.9%	78.1%
Carpooled	7.6%	7.6%
Public transit	0.1%	0.7%
Walked	2.5%	5.5%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.4%
Worked from home	7.5%	6.0%
Other means	1.0%	1.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Freeborn County	Polk County
1-unit, detached	79.5%	72.4%
1-unit, attached	4.0%	2.1%
2 to 4 units	3.7%	5.1%
5 to 19 units	4.5%	6.6%
20 or more units	6.0%	8.2%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	5.6%

Poverty & households

	Freeborn County	Polk County
Poverty rate	9.8%	11.7%
Average household size	2.34	2.38
Mean commute (minutes)	21	19
Median year structure built	1959	1971