North Branch, Minnesota

North Branch is a city in Chisago County, Minnesota, United States, located at the junction of Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highway 95. The population was 10,125 at the 2010 census. It is named for the north branch of the Sunrise River, which flows through the city. North Branch became a township in 1861, and incorporated in 1881. In 1901, however, North Branch split into a village covering the more densely populated downtown area and a township covering the rest of the former village. The township later incorporated as the village of Branch in 1961. The two cities talked about a potential merger for years, starting in the late 1970s. The first public referendum on the issue was held in 1984, and it failed. A second referendum was held on September 13, 1994 and passed. The two cities officially merged on November 14, 1994.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.0 square miles (93.3 km²), of which, 35.7 square miles (92.4 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.9 km²) of it (0.94%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,023 people, 2,815 households, and 2,147 families residing in the city. The population density was 224.9 people per square mile (86.8/km²). There were 2,900 housing units at an average density of 81.3 per square mile (31.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.27% White, 0.16% African American, 0.49% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population.

There were 2,815 households out of which 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.0% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 34.5% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,294, and the median income for a family was $56,512. Males had a median income of $39,478 versus $26,424 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,875. About 3.1% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.