Nicollet County vs Steele County

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

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

Steele County has the higher population (37,413 vs 34,350 in Nicollet County). Steele County has the higher median household income ($83,448 vs $80,362 in Nicollet County). Nicollet County has the higher median home value ($258,500 vs $234,200 in Steele County).

Population, income & housing

	Nicollet County	Steele County
Population	34,350	37,413
Median age	37.8 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$80,362	$83,448
Median home value	$258,500	$234,200
Median gross rent	$931	$1,006
Housing units	13,530	15,878
Homeownership rate	72.3%	79.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.7%	29.7%
Unemployment rate	1.6%	3.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Nicollet County	Steele County
Population	33,954 → 34,350 (+1.2%)	36,683 → 37,413 (+2.0%)
Median household income	$67,399 → $80,362 (+19.2%)	$64,903 → $83,448 (+28.6%)
Median home value	$191,900 → $258,500 (+34.7%)	$169,300 → $234,200 (+38.3%)
Median gross rent	$837 → $931 (+11.2%)	$770 → $1,006 (+30.6%)

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

Steele County

Population

36,68337,413

Median household income

$64,903$83,448

Median home value

$169,300$234,200

Median gross rent

$770$1,006

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Nicollet County	Steele County
Under 5	5.4%	5.4%
5 to 17	16.2%	19.2%
18 to 24	12.9%	7.4%
25 to 34	11.5%	11.3%
35 to 44	13.5%	12.8%
45 to 54	11.2%	11.8%
55 to 64	12.1%	13.5%
65 to 74	9.8%	10.7%
75 and over	7.4%	8.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Nicollet County	Steele County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.9%	84.3%
Black or African American	3.5%	3.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	1.5%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.3%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	5.3%	8.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Nicollet County	Steele County
No high school diploma	5.0%	6.3%
High school graduate	25.4%	30.2%
Some college or associate's	33.8%	33.8%
Bachelor's degree	23.3%	20.4%
Graduate or professional degree	12.4%	9.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Nicollet County	Steele County
Drove alone	69.9%	79.6%
Carpooled	7.2%	6.6%
Public transit	0.3%	1.1%
Walked	6.1%	2.9%
Bicycle	0.8%	0.3%
Worked from home	14.0%	8.6%
Other means	1.8%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Nicollet County	Steele County
1-unit, detached	68.4%	76.0%
1-unit, attached	5.4%	4.9%
2 to 4 units	6.6%	3.9%
5 to 19 units	6.3%	4.6%
20 or more units	8.6%	6.5%
Mobile home & other	4.7%	3.9%

Poverty & households

	Nicollet County	Steele County
Poverty rate	9.6%	7.4%
Average household size	2.39	2.45
Mean commute (minutes)	17	19
Median year structure built	1979	1975