Anoka County, Minnesota

Anoka County is the fourth-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, its population was 363,887. The county seat and namesake of the county is the city of Anoka, which is derived from the Dakota word anoka meaning "on (or from) both sides", referring to its location on both banks of the Rum River. The largest city in the county is Blaine, the tenth-largest city in Minnesota and the sixth-largest Twin Cities suburb.

Anoka County comprises the north portion of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul statistical area, the largest metropolitan area in the state and the 16th-largest in the United States with about 3.64 million residents.

The county is bordered by the counties of Isanti on the north, Chisago and Washington on the east, Hennepin and Ramsey on the south, Sherburne on the west, and the Mississippi River on the southwest. The Rum River cuts through the county and was the site of many early European settlements. It was a common route to the Mille Lacs Lake, the spiritual homeland of the Ojibwe people. Father Louis Hennepin traveled the river in his first exploration of the region. The area became a center of fur trade and logging as French and French Canadian communities grew in the cities of Anoka and Centerville. Organized in 1857, the county's southern border eventually met Minneapolis and has become a predominantly suburban area following the construction of Interstate 35W. The county is home to local Twin Cities destinations such as the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights and Northtown Mall and the National Sports Center in Blaine.

History
Anoka County was organized by an act of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature on May 23, 1857, the year prior to Minnesota's admission to the Union. It was formed from parts of Ramsey County and Benton County; the Rum River previously formed the line between the two counties. The boundaries were mainly the same as they are now, except for a small part of the southeastern tip along the Mississippi River and at the south, formerly known as Manomin County. It was a small portion that connected to Ramsey and occupied one-third of the congressional township. It was then attached to Anoka County by constitutional amendment November 2, 1869. It became known as Fridley in 1879.

The first European descendants to explore what is now Anoka County were Franciscan friar Louis Hennepin and his party. Fur traders soon began to settle in the area that is now Ramsey County. They settled on the Rum River and more people were attracted to the area now called Anoka.

Geography
The Mississippi River flows southeasterly along the county's southwestern boundary. The Rum River flows southerly through the western part of the county, discharging into the Mississippi at the county's southwestern boundary. The terrain consists of low, rolling, wooded hills. The terrain slopes to the south and east; its highest point is a small hillock 1.2 mi east of the county's northwest corner, at 1,100 ft ASL. Otherwise the terrain's highest point is along the western part of the north boundary line, at 1,083 ft ASL. The county has a total area of 446 sqmi, of which 23 sqmi (5.2%) are covered by water.

Lakes

 * Baldwin Lake
 * Bunker Lake
 * Cedar Lake
 * Centerville Lake
 * Coon Lake
 * Crooked Lake
 * George Watch Lake
 * Golden Lake
 * Ham Lake
 * Laddie Lake
 * Lake George
 * Marshan Lake
 * McKay Lake
 * Moore Lake
 * Peltier Lake
 * Reshanau Lake
 * Rice Lake
 * Round Lake
 * Sherman Lake
 * Spring Lake
 * Smith Lake
 * Wards Lake

Waterways

 * Cedar Creek
 * Coon Creek
 * Crooked Brook
 * Ford Brook
 * Hardwood Creek
 * Mahoney Brook
 * Mississippi River
 * Rice Creek
 * Rum River
 * Sand Creek
 * Seelye Brook
 * Trott Brook
 * Pheasant creek

Major highways

 * [[Image:I-35.svg|20px]] Interstate 35
 * [[Image:I-35E.svg|25px]] Interstate 35E
 * [[Image:I-35W.svg|25px]] Interstate 35W
 * [[Image:I-694.svg|25px]] Interstate 694
 * [[Image:US 10.svg|20px]] US Highway 10
 * [[Image:US 169 (MN).svg|20px]] US Highway 169
 * [[Image:MN-47.svg|20px]] Minnesota State Highway 47
 * [[Image:MN-65.svg|20px]] Minnesota State Highway 65
 * [[Image:MN-97.svg|20px]] Minnesota State Highway 97
 * [[Image:MN-610.svg|20px]] Minnesota State Highway 610
 * List of county roads

Adjacent counties

 * Isanti County - north
 * Chisago County - northeast
 * Washington County - east
 * Ramsey County - southeast
 * Hennepin County - southwest
 * Sherburne County - northwest

Protected areas

 * Bethel Wildlife Management Area
 * Boot Lake Scientific and Natural Area
 * Bunker Hills Regional Park
 * Carl E Bonnell Wildlife Management Area
 * Carlos Avery State Wildlife Management Area
 * Cedar Creek Conservation Area
 * Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park
 * East Bethel Booster Park
 * Gordie Mikkelson Wildlife Management Area
 * Helen Allison Savanna Scientific and Natural Area
 * Lake George Regional Park
 * Martin Island-Linwood Lakes Regional Park
 * Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (part)
 * Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Preserve
 * Robert and Marilyn Burman Wildlife Management Area

Climate and weather
Anoka County has a hot-summer humid continental climate zone (Dfa in the Köppen climate classification), typical of southern parts of the Upper Midwest, and is situated in USDA plant hardiness zone 4b. As is typical in a continental climate, the difference between average temperatures in the coldest winter month and the warmest summer month is great: 60.1 F-change. In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Anoka have ranged from a low of 5 °F in January to a high of 81 °F in July, although a record low of -50 °F was recorded in January 2019 and a record high of 103 °F was recorded in July 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 0.87 in in February to 4.45 in in July.

2020 census
''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2010 census
As of the census of 2010, 330,844 people were in the county.

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, 298,084 people, 106,428 households, and 79,395 families resided in the county. The population density was 705 /mi2. The 108,091 housing units had an average density of 256 /mi2.

At the time of the 2000 Census, the racial makeup of the county was 93.64% White, 1.60% African American, 0.70% Native American, 1.69% Asian,  0.67% from other races, and 1.71 percent from two or more races; 1.66% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. The 2000 Census found 30.2% were of German, 14.3% Norwegian, 9.0% Swedish, 7.3% Irish, and 5.9% Polish ancestry.

Of the 106,428 households, 39.9% had children under 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were not families. About 19.3% were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.77, and the average family size was 3.19.

The county's age distribution was 28.9% under 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.10 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 99.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $57,754, and for a family was $64,261. Males had a median income of $41,527 versus $30,534 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,297. About 2.90% of families and 4.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.90% of those under age 18 and 4.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics
Anoka County was once one of the most Democratic suburban counties in any metropolitan area nationwide and one of the rare few to have trended Republican since in 21st century. On a national level, Anoka County has voted for the Republican presidential candidate from 2000 onward, though with the margins remaining within 3% outside of 2004 and 2016. However, incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor Senator Amy Klobuchar defeated Jim Newberger by over 20,000 votes here in the 2018 midterms; Klobuchar also won this county in 2006 and 2012. Despite this, Republican Karin Housley narrowly defeated Democrat Tina Smith in the concurrent Senate special election in 2018, despite Smith winning the overall election by a margin over 10 points.

County commissioners
As of April 2023:
 * District 1 - Matt Look
 * District 2 - Julie Braastad
 * District 3 - Jeff Reinert
 * District 4 - Scott Schulte
 * District 5 - Mike Gamache
 * District 6 - Julie Jeppson
 * District 7 - Mandy Meisner

Cities

 * Andover
 * Anoka
 * Bethel
 * Blaine (partially in Ramsey County)
 * Centerville
 * Circle Pines
 * Columbia Heights
 * Columbus
 * Coon Rapids
 * East Bethel
 * Fridley
 * Ham Lake
 * Hilltop
 * Lexington
 * Lino Lakes
 * Nowthen
 * Oak Grove
 * Ramsey
 * Saint Francis (partially in Isanti County)
 * Spring Lake Park (partially in Ramsey County)

Township

 * Linwood Township

Census-designated place

 * Martin Lake

Unincorporated community

 * Linwood

Education
School districts include:
 * Anoka-Hennepin School District
 * Centennial Public School District
 * Columbia Heights Public School District
 * Elk River School District
 * Forest Lake Public School District
 * Fridley Public School District
 * Spring Lake Park Public Schools
 * St. Francis Area Schools
 * White Bear Lake School District