A college-town anchor in a rural-leaning Rice County corridor
Northfield's two private colleges—Carleton and St. Olaf—inject a younger, more educated demographic into a metro that nonetheless returned a double-digit Republican presidential margin in 2024, reflecting the dominant rural and small-city vote share surrounding it.
| Group | Local | National |
|---|---|---|
▶White (Non-Hispanic)(13) | 84.4% | 57.4% |
▶Hispanic / Latino(13) | 7.9% | 19.3% |
▶Black / African American(9) | 3.6% | 12.2% |
▶Asian(6) | 1.9% | 6.0% |
Multiracial / Other | 1.7% | 4.0% |
▶Native American / Alaska Native(3) | 0.4% | 0.9% |
▶Middle Eastern / North African(2) | 0.1% | 0.9% |
Catholic-Evangelical edge: +22.7pp (vs national 4.5pp). A strongly Catholic-leaning religious profile, which nationally correlates with Democratic-leaning urban and suburban communities.
| Tradition | % Pop | % Adherents | US Pop | US Adherents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25.0% | 45.3% | — | — | |
| 17.3% | 31.3% | — | — | |
| 10.0% | 18.0% | — | — | |
| 2.9% | 5.3% | — | — | |
LDS (Mormon) | 1.3% | 2.4% | — | — |
Non-religiousPopulation | 44.7% | — | — | — |
Who lives in the Faribault-Northfield, MN metro area? 251,563 residents across 4 counties.
27% of adults hold a bachelor's degree — 6pp below the national average. Places with similar education levels vote R+3 on average nationally.
Scale, voting-age share, and this geography's footprint inside the national electorate.
Income, attainment, and ownership indicators that often shape coalition structure and turnout behavior.
Age structure, language use, and nativity signals that explain how this geography differs from state and nation.
| Offices | Margin A | Margin B | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| President vs Senate | R+2.5 | D+10.8 | 13.4pp |