Cottonwood County, Minnesota

Cottonwood County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 12,167. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1681 sqkm. 1658 sqkm of it is land and 23 sqkm of it (1.37%) is water.

Watersheds
The northeast part of the county drains north to the through numerous small creeks, the  and. The southwest part of the county drains south through the. These two s come together at the near. Most s in the county have been for agricultural use.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 71.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:MN-30.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:MN-60.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:MN-62.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 12,167 people, 4,917 households, and 3,338 families residing in the county. The was 7/km² (19/sq mi). There were 5,376 housing units at an average density of 3/km² (8/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 95.23%, 0.34% or , 0.23% , 1.63% , 0.08% , 1.35% from , and 1.14% from two or more races. 2.19% of the population were or  of any race. 50.2% were of and 18.6%  ancestry according to.

There were 4,917 households out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were living together, 6.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 23.20% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 22.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 94.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,943, and the median income for a family was $40,237. Males had a median income of $28,993 versus $19,934 for females. The for the county was $16,647. About 7.40% of families and 11.70% of the population were below the, including 18.40% of those under age 18 and 8.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns
† Most of Comfrey is in, but the city extends into Cottonwood County.

County Parks

 * Dynamite (Great Bend Township)
 * Lady Bird (Southbrook Township)
 * Pat's Grove (Springfield Township)
 * Mountain (Mountain Lake Township)
 * Red Rock (Germantown Township)
 * South Dutch Charlie (Westbrook Township)
 * Talcot Lake (Southbrook Township)