St. Louis County vs Washington County

A side-by-side comparison of St. Louis County and Washington County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Washington County has the higher population (272,298 vs 200,056 in St. Louis County). Washington County has the higher median household income ($114,457 vs $69,455 in St. Louis County). Washington County has the higher median home value ($400,900 vs $208,500 in St. Louis County).

Population, income & housing

	St. Louis County	Washington County
Population	200,056	272,298
Median age	41.3 yrs	39.9 yrs
Median household income	$69,455	$114,457
Median home value	$208,500	$400,900
Median gross rent	$970	$1,637
Housing units	103,924	107,035
Homeownership rate	72.0%	81.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	32.5%	48.9%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	St. Louis County	Washington County
Population	199,759 → 200,056 (+0.1%)	255,938 → 272,298 (+6.4%)
Median household income	$55,646 → $69,455 (+24.8%)	$96,671 → $114,457 (+18.4%)
Median home value	$157,900 → $208,500 (+32.0%)	$289,400 → $400,900 (+38.5%)
Median gross rent	$770 → $970 (+26.0%)	$1,307 → $1,637 (+25.2%)

St. Louis County

Population

199,759200,056

Median household income

$55,646$69,455

Median home value

$157,900$208,500

Median gross rent

$770$970

Washington County

Population

255,938272,298

Median household income

$96,671$114,457

Median home value

$289,400$400,900

Median gross rent

$1,307$1,637

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	St. Louis County	Washington County
Under 5	4.7%	5.7%
5 to 17	14.0%	18.5%
18 to 24	12.2%	7.7%
25 to 34	11.5%	11.4%
35 to 44	11.8%	13.9%
45 to 54	10.9%	13.0%
55 to 64	14.0%	13.7%
65 to 74	12.7%	9.7%
75 and over	8.2%	6.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	St. Louis County	Washington County
White (non-Hispanic)	89.9%	78.4%
Black or African American	1.6%	4.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.6%	0.2%
Asian	1.0%	7.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.6%
Two or more races	3.7%	3.7%
Hispanic or Latino	1.9%	5.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	St. Louis County	Washington County
No high school diploma	5.0%	3.7%
High school graduate	25.3%	18.7%
Some college or associate's	37.2%	28.7%
Bachelor's degree	20.7%	31.4%
Graduate or professional degree	11.8%	17.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	St. Louis County	Washington County
Drove alone	76.1%	68.5%
Carpooled	7.4%	7.2%
Public transit	1.6%	0.8%
Walked	3.6%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.6%	0.2%
Worked from home	9.9%	21.5%
Other means	0.9%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	St. Louis County	Washington County
1-unit, detached	74.1%	67.6%
1-unit, attached	1.7%	16.2%
2 to 4 units	7.3%	2.4%
5 to 19 units	4.0%	2.6%
20 or more units	8.9%	9.5%
Mobile home & other	4.0%	1.7%

Poverty & households

	St. Louis County	Washington County
Poverty rate	13.4%	5.0%
Average household size	2.22	2.60
Mean commute (minutes)	20	24
Median year structure built	1962	1992