County Maps US

Dakota County, Minnesota

A county in Minnesota, ranked 3 of 87 by population.

CountyFIPS 27037

Within Minnesota
Dakota County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Hastings, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
457,710
+17,291 (+3.9%) since 2020
Land area
562.6
square miles. A further 4.1% of the total area is water
Population density
814
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Hastings
Seat of county government.
Established
1849
176 years ago
Largest city
Lakeville city
Population 79,270.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Dakota County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Dakota County, Minnesota from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 757 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Dakota County ranks

Position among the 87 counties of Minnesota, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MinnesotaNationally
Population457,7103rd of 87162nd of 3,144
Land area562.6 sq mi58th of 871,838th of 3,144
Population density814 per sq mi4th of 87191st of 3,144
Median household income$106,3185th of 87116th of 3,143

Full data for Dakota County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population457,710Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020440,419Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?439,886Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area562.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area24.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area586.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?814 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$106,318American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$381,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age38.6American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households174,362American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units178,879American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+1,546
4,821 births, 3,275 deaths
Net migration
+2,393
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 7 areas bordering Dakota County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Goodhue CountyMinnesota33 mi48,195
Washington CountyMinnesota21 mi286,895
Scott CountyMinnesota20 mi159,017
Rice CountyMinnesota17 mi69,939
Hennepin CountyMinnesota12 mi1,284,784
Ramsey CountyMinnesota10 mi541,623
Pierce CountyWisconsin4.1 mi43,519

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Side by side

All 87 counties of Minnesota

Open the interactive Minnesota county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.