The county was created on May 23, 1857.[3] It was named for Henry Jackson, the first merchant in St. Paul.[4][5]
Geography
Jackson County lies on the south side of Minnesota. Its south border abuts the north border of the state of Iowa. The Des Moines River flows south-southeasterly through the central part of the county, thence into Iowa. The county terrain is hilly and carved with drainages and gullies. The area is devoted to agriculture.[6] The terrain generally slopes to the south and east; its highest point is on the lower west border, at 1,545 ft (471 m) ASL.[7] The county has a total area of 719 square miles (1,860 km2), of which 703 square miles (1,820 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (2.3%) is water.[8]
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
2000 census
Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 census data
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,268 people, 4,556 households, and 3,116 families in the county. The population density was 16.0 per square mile (6.2/km2). There were 5,092 housing units at an average density of 7.24 per square mile (2.80/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.07% White, 0.09% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 1.38% Asian, 0.97% from other races, and 0.38% from two or more races. 1.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 51.9% were of German, 14.1% Norwegian and 5.6% American ancestry.
There were 4,556 households, out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.00% were married couples living together, 5.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.60% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.95.
The county population contained 24.50% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 20.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 100.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,746, and the median income for a family was $43,426. Males had a median income of $29,123 versus $20,860 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,499. About 5.20% of families and 8.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.00% of those under age 18 and 8.40% of those age 65 or over.
From 1932 to 1996, Jackson County favored the Democratic candidate in all but four elections, all of which were nationwide Republican landslides. Since 2000, the county has gone Republican in every election. George W. Bush won the county by somewhat modest margins in both 2000 and 2004, and John McCain only won by slightly over 4% in 2008 over Barack Obama. Mitt Romney significantly improved on McCain's performance, defeating Obama by over 14%. This was a sign of things to come in the county, as in 2016, Donald Trump nearly tripled Romney's 2012 margin of victory, winning Jackson County by over 38% against Hillary Clinton. Trump became the first Republican to win at least 60% of the vote in the county since Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1952 landslide victory. Trump's margin of victory fell slightly in 2020 to just under 38%, but he increased his vote share to nearly 68%, the best vote share for any Republican in the county since Warren G. Harding a century earlier.
United States presidential election results for Jackson County, Minnesota[19]
United States
Minnesota
