36,745 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.5% since 2020)
861 square miles of land · 43 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.
12 active community water systems list Carlton County in the area they serve, reporting 19,904 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Cloquet groundwater · local government · MN1090005 | 12,864 served |
| Moose Lake groundwater · local government · MN1090009 | 1,782 served |
| MN Correctional Facility - Moose Lake groundwater · private · MN1090010 | 1,466 served |
| Carlton groundwater · local government · MN1090003 | 1,146 served |
| Scanlon buys groundwater · local government · MN1090011 | 1,003 served |
| Barnum groundwater · local government · MN1090001 | 621 served |
| Wrenshall groundwater · local government · MN1090013 | 399 served |
| Cromwell groundwater · local government · MN1090007 | 250 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 20 people were held in Carlton County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 86 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 43.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Carlton County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $48 million — $39.3 million to run schools, about $14,871 per student, plus $3.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.9 million local (mostly property tax), $30.8 million state, $5.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $56 million.
Spent $15.4 million — $13.6 million to run schools, about $10,671 per student, plus $743,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.8 million local (mostly property tax), $11.7 million state, $869,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.9 million.
Spent $10.5 million — $8.4 million to run schools, about $12,118 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $7.5 million state, $797,000 federal. Long-term debt: $943,000.
Spent $9.4 million — $7.2 million to run schools, about $12,030 per student, plus $423,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.1 million local (mostly property tax), $7.3 million state, $880,000 federal. Long-term debt: $24.5 million.
Spent $7.5 million — $5.3 million to run schools, about $15,017 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $4.2 million state, $515,000 federal. Long-term debt: $13.9 million.
Spent $6.5 million — $5.8 million to run schools, about $17,003 per student, plus $143,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $3.6 million state, $1 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.4 million.
Spent $5.3 million — $4.5 million to run schools, about $14,902 per student, plus $365,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $3.7 million state, $431,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.2 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 Carlton County about $31.7 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.
148 bridges in Carlton County: 72 in good condition, 63 fair, and 13 poor (8.8%). “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.
| I 35 over MOOSE HORN RIVER · built 1968 | 8,200 vehicles a day |
| I 35 over MOOSE HORN RIVER · built 1968 | 8,200 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 61 over BNSF RR · built 1979 | 2,884 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 26 over I 35 · built 1965 | 1,343 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 1 over MP; L CANAL · built 1976 | 1,006 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 6 over BLACKHOOF CREEK · built 1918 | 420 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $22.1 million of work in Carlton County in fiscal 2025, about $609 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 Carlton 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 Carlton County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Pine County (35 mi) · Aitkin County (35 mi) · Douglas County, WI (38 mi) · Burnett County, WI (53 mi) · Kanabec County (54 mi) · Washburn County, WI (64 mi).