Ramsey County, Minnesota

Ramsey County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,352, making it the state's second-most populous county, and was estimated to be 542,015 in 2024. Its county seat and largest city is Saint Paul, the state capital and the twin city of Minneapolis. The county was founded in 1849 and is named for Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of the Minnesota Territory. Ramsey County is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul–Bloomington, MN–WI Metropolitan statistical area. It is Minnesota's smallest and most densely populated county, as well as the 38th-most densely populated county in the United States in 2010.

WWW co.ramsey.mn.us

History

With the establishment of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, nine counties, including Ramsey County, were created. In 1849, Ramsey County included all of what later became the present-day counties of Ramsey, Anoka, Isanti, and Kanabec, as well as parts of Washington, Pine, Carlton, Aitkin, Mille Lacs, and Hennepin. One of Ramsey County's early settlers was Heman Gibbs, whose farm is now the Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life in Falcon Heights. Ramsey County remained largely farmland until small villages began to appear in the late 19th century, with the incorporation of North St. Paul in 1887, New Brighton in 1891, and White Bear Lake in 1921.

Government and politics

Ramsey County is overwhelmingly Democratic in presidential elections, not having voted for a Republican presidential nominee since 1924. In 2020, Democratic nominee Joe Biden received the largest share of the vote for any candidate in the county's history, with over 71%.

County sheriff

The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office was established in the old Minnesota Territory in 1849. The current sheriff is Bob Fletcher, who was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. The Ramsey County sheriff is elected to a four-year term in an election concurrent with the federal midterm elections.
The sheriff's office provides patrol and investigation for communities without local police forces and is available as backup for all communities. In addition to enforcing the law, the office provides town police services under contract to Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Little Canada, North Oaks, Shoreview, Vadnais Heights, and White Bear Township.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office provides a number of unique services as mandated by law. This includes detention for court and other court services, safety, rescue, and law enforcement on the waterways. The office provides safety classes and coordinates community volunteer efforts. It is responsible for the county jail, more officially the Adult Detention Center, which can hold 500 prisoners and has a staff of about 150.

Community	Law enforcement	Fire protection	Ambulance
Arden Hills	Ramsey County Sheriff	Lake Johanna Fire	Allina Medical Transport
Falcon Heights	Ramsey County Sheriff	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Gem Lake	White Bear Lake Police	White Bear Lake Fire	White Bear Lake Fire
Lauderdale	Saint Anthony Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Little Canada	Ramsey County Sheriff	Little Canada Fire & Rescue	Allina Medical Transport
Maplewood	Maplewood Police	Maplewood Fire	Maplewood Fire
Minnesota State Fairgrounds	Minnesota State Fair Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Mounds View	Mounds View Police	SBM Fire	Allina Medical Transport
New Brighton	New Brighton Police Division	New Brighton Fire Division	Allina Medical Transport
North Oaks	Ramsey County Sheriff	Lake Johanna Fire	Allina Medical Transport
North Saint Paul	North Saint Paul Police	North Saint Paul Fire	Lakeview Emergency Medical
Roseville	Roseville Police	Roseville Fire	Allina Medical Transport
Saint Anthony	Saint Anthony Police	Saint Anthony Fire	Hennepin EMS
Saint Paul	Saint Paul Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Shoreview	Ramsey County Sheriff	Lake Johanna Fire	Allina Medical Transport
University of Minnesota-St. Paul	University Police	Saint Paul Fire	Saint Paul Fire
Vadnais Heights	Ramsey County Sheriff	Vadnais Heights Fire	Allina Medical Transport
White Bear Lake	White Bear Lake Police	White Bear Lake Fire	White Bear Lake Fire
White Bear Township	Ramsey County Sheriff	White Bear Lake Fire	White Bear Lake Fire

County attorney

The Ramsey County attorney prosecutes felony crimes committed within the jurisdiction of Ramsey County. The current county attorney is John Choi, who was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014, 2018, and 2022.

County commissioners

The county commission elects a chair who presides at meetings. Commissioners as of February 24, 2025, are:

District	Commissioner	Assumed office	Current term ends
1st	Tara Jebens-Singh	January 6, 2025	January 1, 2029
2nd	Mary Jo McGuire	January 6, 2013	January 1, 2029
3rd	Garrison McMurtrey	February 24, 2025	January 4, 2027
4th	Rena Moran	January 2, 2023	January 4, 2027
5th	Rafael E. Ortega	2014	January 4, 2027
6th	Mai Chong Xiong	January 2, 2023	January 4, 2027
7th	Kelly Miller	January 6, 2025	January 1, 2029

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has an area of, of which is land and is water. It is Minnesota's smallest county by area, and has been considered completely urbanized since the 1990 census.

Adjacent counties

National protected area

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

Transportation

Rail

Ramsey County is a major freight hub along BNSF's Northern Transcon route and is also served by Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific.
Amtrak offers daily intercity passenger rail service on the Empire Builder from Union Depot in Saint Paul. Light rail service is provided by Metro, a light rail and bus rapid transit system operated by Metro Transit that connects several communities in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties. The Metro Green Line connects Union Depot to Target Field station in Minneapolis, in neighboring Hennepin County.

Road

Ramsey County is served by several interstate highways, including Interstate 35 and Interstate 94. I-35 has two routes through Ramsey County. I-35E enters the county from Dakota County to the south and proceeds north through Saint Paul, where it intersects I-94, then continues north to Little Canada, where it runs east concurrently with I-694 for several miles before turning north through North Oaks to Washington County. I-35W crosses from Minneapolis to the west through Saint Anthony before turning north through New Brighton, where it intersects I-694, and then to Anoka County, where it goes on to rejoin I-35E in Washington County.
Near the western edge of the county, I-94 enters from Minneapolis where it runs almost parallel to University Avenue until it meets I-35E in Saint Paul and continues east to Washington County. I-494 passes through the southeast corner of the county between Dakota and Washington Counties. From Anoka County in the west, I-694 takes a path through New Brighton, where it meets I-35W, to the junction with I-35E in Little Canada and finally to Washington County in the east.
Ramsey County is also accessible by several U.S. Highways, in particular US 10, US 52, and US 61. US 10 enters from Washington County in the south and continues north to meet I-94 just east of Saint Paul where it turns west to run concurrently with I-94, I-35E, I-694, and finally I-35W before continuing northwest to Anoka County. US 52 runs from South Saint Paul in Dakota County north to downtown Saint Paul where it meets I-94 and turns west to run concurrently with it all the way to the North Dakota border. From the south, US 61 runs concurrently with US 10 and then I-94 until it continues northeast on surface streets through the East Side of Saint Paul. From Saint Paul, US 61 continues north through Maplewood and White Bear Lake before crossing the border into Washington County.
In addition to these federal highways, Ramsey County is served by several Minnesota State Highways, including MN 36 and MN 51, which are divided highways for much of their length.
The county also has jurisdiction over 264.108 miles of County State Aid Highways as well as 21,031 miles of county roads and 59 bridges maintained and monitored by the county's Public Works Department.

Major highways

Air

The primary airport serving Ramsey County is Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, in neighboring Hennepin County. The only airport in Ramsey County is Saint Paul Downtown Airport, a smaller commercial airport with three runways primarily used for general aviation and military operations.

Demographics

As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Ramsey County was $329,720.
As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 219,075 estimated households in Ramsey County with an average of 2.41 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $81,004. Approximately 11.9% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Ramsey County has an estimated 68.7% employment rate, with 45.5% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 91.5% holding a high school diploma.
The top five reported ancestries were English, Spanish, Indo-European, Asian and Pacific Islander, and Other.

Racial and ethnic composition

Ramsey County, Minnesota – racial and ethnic composition

Race / ethnicity	Pop. 1980	Pop. 1990	Pop. 2000	Pop. 2010
White alone	422,284	420,949	384,648	340,194	320,477
Black or African American alone	14,494	22,096	37,978	54,835	70,101
Native American or Alaska Native alone	2,993	4,129	3,677	3,143	2,914
Asian alone	5,402	24,209	44,633	59,033	85,775
Pacific Islander alone	—	—	284	195	214
Other race alone	5,301	492	803	737	2,339
Mixed race or multiracial	—	—	12,033	14,020	25,498
Hispanic or Latino	9,310	13,890	26,979	36,483	45,034
Total	459,784	485,765	511,035	508,640	552,352

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 552,352. The median age was 35.6 years. 22.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.2 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 59.6% White, 12.9% Black or African American, 0.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 15.6% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 4.0% from some other race, and 7.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.2% of the population.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while <0.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 218,077 households in the county, of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.9% were married-couple households, 20.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 228,546 housing units, of which 4.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 57.5% were owner-occupied and 42.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.9%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 508,640 people, 202,691 households, and 117,799 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 217,196 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 70.10% White, 11.04% African American, 0.79% Native American, 11.66% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.91% from some other races and 3.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 7.17% of the population.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 511,035 people, 201,236 households, and 119,936 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 206,448 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 77.37% White, 7.61% African American, 0.83% Native American, 8.77% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.45% from some other races and 2.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 5.28% of the population.
There were 201,236 households, out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.00% were married couples living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.40% were non-families. 32.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 11.30% from 18 to 24, 30.70% from 25 to 44, 20.70% from 45 to 64, and 11.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $45,722, and the median income for a family was $57,747. Males had a median income of $39,806 versus $30,814 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,536. About 7.40% of families and 10.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Townships

McLean Township
Mounds View Township
New Canada Township
Reserve Township
Rose Township
White Bear Township

Unincorporated communities

Education

School districts include:

Mounds View Public School District
North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District
Roseville Public School District
St. Anthony-New Brighton Schools
St. Paul Public School District
White Bear Lake School District

Charter schools include: