Rice County, Minnesota: Diversifying Metro county. In 2024, voted R+3%. Republican peak: R+51 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+3MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Diversifying MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 67,9172024 5-year
- Median household income
- $83,1812024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 6.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+25 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Pacific County, WA · similarity 0.96
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Rice CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Rice 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 | +9.7% |
| 1896 | −25.9% |
| 1900 | −25.5% |
| 1904 | −47.4% |
| 1908 | −26.3% |
| 1912 | +12.9% |
| 1916 | −7.0% |
| 1920 | −51.2% |
| 1924 | −48.8% |
| 1928 | −13.4% |
| 1932 | +13.8% |
| 1936 | +8.4% |
| 1940 | −26.8% |
| 1944 | −20.8% |
| 1948 | −3.8% |
| 1952 | −36.5% |
| 1956 | −30.7% |
| 1960 | −10.0% |
| 1964 | +25.5% |
| 1968 | +4.9% |
| 1972 | −6.5% |
| 1976 | +11.6% |
| 1980 | +6.6% |
| 1984 | +2.0% |
| 1988 | +9.9% |
| 1992 | +16.1% |
| 1996 | +24.9% |
| 2000 | +8.7% |
| 2004 | +8.3% |
| 2008 | +11.5% |
| 2012 | +8.3% |
| 2016 | −3.1% |
| 2020 | −0.2% |
| 2024 | −2.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 17,353 | 18,264 | 36,412 | ||
| R | 17,402 | 17,464 | 35,686 | ||
| R | 14,437 | 15,429 | 32,443 | ||
| D | 17,054 | 14,384 | 32,267 | ||
| D | 17,381 | 13,723 | 31,799 | ||
| D | 16,425 | 13,881 | 30,745 | ||
| D | 13,140 | 10,876 | 26,021 | ||
| D | 12,821 | 7,016 | 23,320 | ||
| D | 10,908 | 7,015 | 24,113 | ||
| D | 11,570 | 9,460 | 21,267 | ||
| D | 10,880 | 10,456 | 21,525 | ||
| D | 9,531 | 8,168 | 20,673 | ||
| D | 10,590 | 8,311 | 19,607 | ||
| R | 8,065 | 9,195 | 17,475 | ||
| D | 7,785 | 7,037 | 15,319 | ||
| D | 9,299 | 5,518 | 14,843 | ||
| R | 6,752 | 8,248 | 15,031 | ||
| R | 4,489 | 8,471 | 12,984 | ||
| R | 4,330 | 9,334 | 13,693 | ||
| R | 5,832 | 6,301 | 12,321 | ||
| R | 4,470 | 6,824 | 11,322 | ||
| R | 4,687 | 8,143 | 12,875 | ||
| D | 5,928 | 4,888 | 12,327 | ||
| D | 6,289 | 4,743 | 11,215 | ||
| R | 5,014 | 6,576 | 11,639 | ||
| R | 1,199 | 5,883 | 9,603 | ||
| R | 2,040 | 6,500 | 8,715 | ||
| R | 2,083 | 2,408 | 4,661 | ||
| O | 1,613 | 1,020 | 4,597 | ||
| R | 1,614 | 2,821 | 4,590 | ||
| R | 1,063 | 3,160 | 4,428 | ||
| R | 1,688 | 2,924 | 4,844 | ||
| R | 2,002 | 3,483 | 5,711 | ||
| D | 2,245 | 1,794 | 4,649 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
29.5%
Irish
9.5%
English
6.8%
American
2.8%
French
2.6%
Polish
2.3%
Italian
1.8%
African American
5.4%
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: 37.1 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
$83,181
Rice County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Rice County$83,181
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Rice County ranks in the top 25% 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
10.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.2%
Working age (18–64)9.2%
Seniors (65+)9.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
86.3%
speak English only
Spanish7.5%
Other languages3.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.5%
Other Indo-European1.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 44.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to Faribault and Northfield — seat of Carleton and St. Olaf colleges — Rice County shifted from D+6 in 2020 to R+2.5 in 2024, a swing that mirrors broader rural Minnesota realignment despite its campus presence.
The Democratic margin here reached twenty-five points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was three points.
A population of 67,917, a 80% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $83,181 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Pacific County and Iberville Parish.
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.
Rice County, Minnesota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/27131/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Minnesota
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Frequently asked questions
How did Rice County, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Rice County, Minnesota voted Republican by 2.5 points (R+3), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 36,412 votes cast, 17,353 went Democratic and 18,264 went Republican.
What is Rice County, Minnesota's political typology?
Akashic places Rice County, Minnesota in the "Diversifying Metro" typology — Mid-size metropolitan counties growing more diverse and trending Democratic. 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 15 times, Republican 18 times, and other 1 times.
When did Rice County, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Rice County, Minnesota voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Rice County, Minnesota?
Rice County, Minnesota has a population of 67,917 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Rice County, Minnesota?
Median household income in Rice County, Minnesota is $83,181 — above the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Rice County, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Rice County, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "Diversifying Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.