Official Federal Data
Pennington County, Minnesota
FIPS 27113 · Population 13,791
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$77,325 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
5.7% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$2.7B ▲
GDP
21% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Small population: 13,791 residents. These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates, which carry a wide margin of error for places under 20,000 people. Read each value as an approximate range, and treat year-over-year changes as indicative rather than exact. A small shift can reflect survey sampling, not a real change on the ground.
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$77,325 ▲
Per Capita
$41,551 ▲
Mean Household
$93,104 ▲
Poverty Rate
10.5% ▼approx.
Median Income Comparison
Pennington County$77,325
Minnesota$89,062
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 20.8%
18-34 · 21.3%
35-54 · 25.1%
55-64 · 13.4%
65+ · 19.3%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
94.8%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +5.2 pts
21%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▼ 14.7 pts
5.5%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▼ 8.6 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
13,791
Population
7,822
Labor Force
Employed
7,592
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
5.7% ▲ +1.0 pts YoY
Mean Commute 14 min below national avg
12.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
9.9%
Key Takeaways
- Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 14.7 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Retail Trade employs 969 workers (30.9% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $29,441.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $2.7B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Transportation and Warehousing averages $72,290 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $14,795, a 4.9x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Retail Trade Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
541
Cluster Employment
3.30x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
3.30x 208
General Merchandise Retailers
1.71x 333
Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
1.52x 314
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.13x
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
86 employed
0.23x
Ambulatory Health Care Services
123 employed
0.38x
Specialty Trade Contractors
119 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers concentrates at 3.30x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
- Cluster depth: 3 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 7 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$195,500 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$862 ▲
Rent/Mo
72.2% ▼
Owner-Occ
8.7% ▲
Vacancy
2.5x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Affordable
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$774/mo
1 Bedroom
$855/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,122/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,496/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,631/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,933/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.5x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
- High home ownership: 72.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
- Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,933/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
8,260 ▼
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 14 min below national avg
12.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
9.9%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
89.3%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
21% ▲
HS Diploma+
94.8% ▲
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
49,702/yr
14,847/yr
13,676/yr
12,870/yr
3,728/yr
2,468/yr
2,113/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
22.4%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Elevated retirement risk, above the 20% threshold. Succession planning recommended.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
29.9%
Service
13.9%
Sales & Office
23.2%
Construction / Maint.
6.8%
Production / Transport
26.2%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 7,592 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Succession risk is real: 22.4% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
- Short commutes: 12.4-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 41,393 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Pennington County shows meaningful potential for gasoline stations and fuel dealers attraction, with a 3.30x concentration and 208 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.4% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.
The interconnected base across gasoline stations and fuel dealers, general merchandise retailers, and nursing and residential care facilities creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Pennington County, Minnesota, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Pennington County, Minnesota?
13,791 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Pennington County, Minnesota?
$77,325 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Pennington County, Minnesota?
5.7% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Pennington County, Minnesota?
$2.7B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
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