453,156 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.9% since 2020)
563 square miles of land · 806 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.
20 active community water systems list Dakota County in the area they serve, reporting 385,076 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Eagan groundwater · local government · MN1190007 | 68,223 served |
| Lakeville groundwater · local government · MN1190015 | 67,300 served |
| Burnsville surface water · local government · MN1190002 | 64,317 served |
| Apple Valley groundwater · local government · MN1190001 | 50,300 served |
| Inver Grove Heights groundwater · local government · MN1190014 | 34,189 served |
| Rosemount groundwater · local government · MN1190019 | 26,500 served |
| Farmington groundwater · local government · MN1190008 | 23,534 served |
| Hastings groundwater · local government · MN1190012 | 23,222 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 181 people were held in Dakota County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 63 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 221.
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.
9 school districts have their office in Dakota County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $495.6 million — $448.1 million to run schools, about $15,334 per student, plus $25.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $157.2 million local (mostly property tax), $316 million state, $31 million federal. Long-term debt: $143.9 million.
Spent $247.4 million — $175.9 million to run schools, about $14,882 per student, plus $52.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $80.9 million local (mostly property tax), $123.4 million state, $8.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $227.3 million.
Spent $153.6 million — $136 million to run schools, about $17,393 per student, plus $5.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $53.1 million local (mostly property tax), $93.5 million state, $19.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $144.7 million.
Spent $107.2 million — $88.4 million to run schools, about $13,007 per student, plus $6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $40.7 million local (mostly property tax), $76.2 million state, $8 million federal. Long-term debt: $152.5 million.
Spent $109.8 million — $86.3 million to run schools, about $16,864 per student, plus $12 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $35.9 million local (mostly property tax), $58.3 million state, $8.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $149.8 million.
Spent $71.9 million — $60.7 million to run schools, about $14,745 per student, plus $7.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $24.4 million local (mostly property tax), $41.9 million state, $6.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $68.5 million.
Spent $59.8 million — $50.5 million to run schools, about $14,677 per student, plus $4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19.3 million local (mostly property tax), $35.7 million state, $6.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $90.7 million.
Spent $51.6 million — $45.3 million to run schools, about $14,850 per student, plus $2.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.7 million local (mostly property tax), $34.8 million state, $5.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $46.6 million.
And 1 more.
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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Dakota County about $133.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
257 bridges in Dakota County: 111 in good condition, 142 fair, and 4 poor (1.6%). “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 35W over UP RR Cliff Rd (CSAH32) · built 1959 | 94,603 vehicles a day |
| MSAS 102 over I 35W · built 1969 | 15,800 vehicles a day |
| MN 55 over US 52 NB · built 1958 | 6,400 vehicles a day |
| PERMANENTLY CLOSED over CANNON RIVER · built 1909 | 1 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $62.8 million of work in Dakota County in fiscal 2025, about $143 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 Dakota 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 Dakota County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Scott County (23 mi) · Ramsey County (24 mi) · Rice County (25 mi) · Goodhue County (25 mi) · Washington County (27 mi) · Hennepin County (31 mi).