70,700 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.2% since 2020)
748 square miles of land · 95 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
17 active community water systems list Blue Earth County in the area they serve, reporting 55,042 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Mankato groundwater (surface-influenced) · local government · MN1070009 | 42,803 served |
| Eagle Lake groundwater · local government · MN1070002 | 3,268 served |
| Lake Crystal groundwater · local government · MN1070006 | 2,554 served |
| Mapleton groundwater · local government · MN1070013 | 1,756 served |
| Madison Lake groundwater · local government · MN1070007 | 1,017 served |
| Saint Clair groundwater · local government · MN1070017 | 846 served |
| Good Thunder groundwater · local government · MN1070005 | 583 served |
| Amboy groundwater · local government · MN1070001 | 535 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 78 people were held in Blue Earth County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 164 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 110.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
4 school districts have their office in Blue Earth County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $162.3 million — $118.3 million to run schools, about $14,091 per student, plus $32.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $42.5 million local (mostly property tax), $90 million state, $8.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $165.6 million.
Spent $14.6 million — $12.5 million to run schools, about $12,931 per student, plus $531,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.6 million local (mostly property tax), $10 million state, $799,000 federal. Long-term debt: $25.1 million.
Spent $28.5 million — $12 million to run schools, about $12,822 per student, plus $13 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.6 million local (mostly property tax), $11.7 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $63.5 million.
Spent $18 million — $8.7 million to run schools, about $11,102 per student, plus $8.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.6 million local (mostly property tax), $7.9 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $15.4 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Blue Earth County about $33.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
193 bridges in Blue Earth County: 88 in good condition, 93 fair, and 12 poor (6.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| UNU 169 over MINN R UP RR; STREET · built 1985 | 22,949 vehicles a day |
| US 14 over N RIVERFRONT DR · built 1977 | 16,250 vehicles a day |
| US 14 over N RIVERFRONT DR · built 1977 | 15,742 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 9 over BLUE EARTH RIVER · built 1985 | 572 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 29 over MAPLE RIVER · built 1956 | 465 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 25 over PERCH CREEK · built 1940 | 305 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $44.3 million of work in Blue Earth County in fiscal 2025, about $641 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Minnesota are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Blue Earth County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Blue Earth County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Waseca County (24 mi) · Nicollet County (24 mi) · Faribault County (25 mi) · Watonwan County (28 mi) · Le Sueur County (29 mi) · Martin County (34 mi).