Cottonwood County, Minnesota: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+41%. Republican peak: R+76 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+41MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 11,4582024 5-year
- Median household income
- $72,9412024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 81.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+38 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+76 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Todd County, MN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Cottonwood CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Cottonwood County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | +37.8% |
| 1896 | −20.4% |
| 1900 | −41.1% |
| 1904 | −72.7% |
| 1908 | −37.9% |
| 1912 | +9.2% |
| 1916 | −28.0% |
| 1920 | −76.2% |
| 1924 | −52.4% |
| 1928 | −35.7% |
| 1932 | +19.6% |
| 1936 | +21.4% |
| 1940 | −17.1% |
| 1944 | −24.8% |
| 1948 | +1.7% |
| 1952 | −43.8% |
| 1956 | −32.6% |
| 1960 | −29.5% |
| 1964 | +8.9% |
| 1968 | −13.6% |
| 1972 | −21.8% |
| 1976 | −1.2% |
| 1980 | −16.6% |
| 1984 | −16.3% |
| 1988 | −4.5% |
| 1992 | −1.5% |
| 1996 | +1.7% |
| 2000 | −14.0% |
| 2004 | −13.0% |
| 2008 | −6.6% |
| 2012 | −15.1% |
| 2016 | −35.0% |
| 2020 | −38.2% |
| 2024 | −41.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,705 | 4,157 | 5,987 | ||
| R | 1,834 | 4,165 | 6,107 | ||
| R | 1,678 | 3,679 | 5,721 | ||
| R | 2,433 | 3,316 | 5,862 | ||
| R | 2,759 | 3,157 | 6,036 | ||
| R | 2,726 | 3,557 | 6,369 | ||
| R | 2,503 | 3,369 | 6,181 | ||
| D | 2,737 | 2,633 | 6,172 | ||
| R | 2,382 | 2,481 | 6,651 | ||
| R | 3,095 | 3,390 | 6,545 | ||
| R | 3,073 | 4,275 | 7,385 | ||
| R | 2,958 | 4,258 | 7,847 | ||
| R | 3,813 | 3,906 | 7,859 | ||
| R | 2,802 | 4,396 | 7,303 | ||
| R | 3,046 | 4,050 | 7,391 | ||
| D | 4,090 | 3,423 | 7,528 | ||
| R | 2,768 | 5,087 | 7,872 | ||
| R | 2,344 | 4,619 | 6,968 | ||
| R | 2,130 | 5,488 | 7,674 | ||
| D | 3,333 | 3,222 | 6,632 | ||
| R | 2,354 | 3,916 | 6,308 | ||
| R | 2,991 | 4,228 | 7,255 | ||
| D | 3,929 | 2,509 | 6,623 | ||
| D | 2,877 | 1,921 | 4,876 | ||
| R | 1,604 | 3,405 | 5,048 | ||
| R | 217 | 2,722 | 4,776 | ||
| R | 451 | 3,882 | 4,500 | ||
| R | 762 | 1,425 | 2,366 | ||
| O | 511 | 325 | 2,017 | ||
| R | 526 | 1,240 | 1,884 | ||
| R | 213 | 1,536 | 1,819 | ||
| R | 547 | 1,368 | 1,997 | ||
| R | 810 | 1,242 | 2,115 | ||
| D | 727 | 202 | 1,388 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
39.5%
English
5.5%
Irish
4.9%
American
2.9%
French
1.1%
Polish
1.0%
Scottish
0.6%
African American
1.4%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 40.3 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$72,941
Cottonwood County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Cottonwood County$72,941
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Cottonwood County ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
15.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.3%
Working age (18–64)12.1%
Seniors (65+)17.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.7%
speak English only
Spanish6.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.9%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 38.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Cottonwood County, in the southwest Minnesota plains, recorded an R+41 margin in 2024 — among the widest in the state — reflecting the sharp rightward shift rural agricultural counties have posted over the past two decades.
The Republican margin here reached seventy-six points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-one points.
A median household income of $72,941, a 81% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 11,458 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Todd County and Van Buren County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Cottonwood County, Minnesota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/27033/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More sunbelt conservative counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Cottonwood County, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Cottonwood County, Minnesota voted Republican by 41.0 points (R+41), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 5,987 votes cast, 1,705 went Democratic and 4,157 went Republican.
What is Cottonwood County, Minnesota's political typology?
Akashic places Cottonwood County, Minnesota in the "Sunbelt Conservative" typology — Affluent, predominantly white Sunbelt counties — reliably Republican. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 6 times, Republican 27 times, and other 1 times.
When did Cottonwood County, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Cottonwood County, Minnesota voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Cottonwood County, Minnesota?
Cottonwood County, Minnesota has a population of 11,458 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Cottonwood County, Minnesota?
Median household income in Cottonwood County, Minnesota is $72,941 — below the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Cottonwood County, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Cottonwood County, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.