McLeod County vs Nicollet County

A side-by-side comparison of McLeod County and Nicollet County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

McLeod County has the higher population (36,771 vs 34,350 in Nicollet County). Nicollet County has the higher median household income ($80,362 vs $78,468 in McLeod County). Nicollet County has the higher median home value ($258,500 vs $233,400 in McLeod County).

Population, income & housing

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
Population	36,771	34,350
Median age	41.5 yrs	37.8 yrs
Median household income	$78,468	$80,362
Median home value	$233,400	$258,500
Median gross rent	$906	$931
Housing units	15,936	13,530
Homeownership rate	77.8%	72.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.6%	35.7%
Unemployment rate	3.3%	1.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
Population	35,832 → 36,771 (+2.6%)	33,954 → 34,350 (+1.2%)
Median household income	$62,121 → $78,468 (+26.3%)	$67,399 → $80,362 (+19.2%)
Median home value	$164,700 → $233,400 (+41.7%)	$191,900 → $258,500 (+34.7%)
Median gross rent	$781 → $906 (+16.0%)	$837 → $931 (+11.2%)

McLeod County

Population

35,83236,771

Median household income

$62,121$78,468

Median home value

$164,700$233,400

Median gross rent

$781$906

Nicollet County

Population

33,95434,350

Median household income

$67,399$80,362

Median home value

$191,900$258,500

Median gross rent

$837$931

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
Under 5	5.4%	5.4%
5 to 17	16.8%	16.2%
18 to 24	7.7%	12.9%
25 to 34	11.5%	11.5%
35 to 44	12.7%	13.5%
45 to 54	12.0%	11.2%
55 to 64	14.1%	12.1%
65 to 74	10.7%	9.8%
75 and over	9.0%	7.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
White (non-Hispanic)	89.0%	85.9%
Black or African American	0.5%	3.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	0.6%	1.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.4%	3.3%
Hispanic or Latino	7.2%	5.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
No high school diploma	6.5%	5.0%
High school graduate	34.9%	25.4%
Some college or associate's	39.0%	33.8%
Bachelor's degree	13.0%	23.3%
Graduate or professional degree	6.6%	12.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
Drove alone	79.9%	69.9%
Carpooled	7.1%	7.2%
Public transit	0.5%	0.3%
Walked	2.9%	6.1%
Bicycle	0.8%	0.8%
Worked from home	7.7%	14.0%
Other means	1.2%	1.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
1-unit, detached	71.4%	68.4%
1-unit, attached	6.5%	5.4%
2 to 4 units	4.2%	6.6%
5 to 19 units	6.9%	6.3%
20 or more units	6.1%	8.6%
Mobile home & other	5.0%	4.7%

Poverty & households

	McLeod County	Nicollet County
Poverty rate	7.7%	9.6%
Average household size	2.42	2.39
Mean commute (minutes)	24	17
Median year structure built	1979	1979