Mille Lacs County, Minnesota

Mille Lacs County is a located in the  of, founded in 1857. As of 2000, the population was 22,330. Its is. A portion of the is in the county.

History
Mille Lacs County was organized on May 23, cleaving off the eastern-most portion of. The original Mille Lacs County consisted of portion of the contemporary Mille Lacs County east of the west branch of the and two townships now part of, adjacent to Mille Lacs County. In 1858, the 12 townships forming the contemporary southern 10 townships of Mille Lacs County and the 2 northwestern townships in Isanti County were organized apart from either or Mille Lacs County to form Monroe County, leaving the northern "Square Top-knot" as the Mille Lacs County. In 1860, Monroe and Mille Lacs Counties merged. Shortly thereafter, the two southeastern townships were transferred to Isanti County, forming the contemporary boundaries for the county.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,766 (682 ). 1,488 km² (574 sq mi) of it is land and 278 km² (107 sq mi) of it (15.74%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 22,330 people, 8,638 households, and 6,003 families residing in the county. The was 15/km² (39/sq mi). There were 10,467 housing units at an average density of 7/km² (18/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.55%, 0.27% or , 4.68% , 0.21% , 0.01% , 0.22% from , and 1.05% from two or more races. 0.96% of the population were or  of any race. 31.9% were of, 14.4% and 14.2%  ancestry according to.

There were 8,638 households out of which 32.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 25.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.00% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,977, and the median income for a family was $44,054. Males had a median income of $32,348 versus $22,036 for females. The for the county was $17,656. About 6.70% of families and 9.60% of the population were below the, including 10.90% of those under age 18 and 11.30% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns


† a small part of Princeton extends into.