163,997 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.5% since 2020)
1,343 square miles of land · 122 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.
33 active community water systems list Stearns County in the area they serve, reporting 140,944 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| Saint Cloud surface water · local government · MN1730027 | 71,321 served |
| Sartell groundwater · local government · MN1730036 | 20,300 served |
| Waite Park groundwater · local government · MN1730039 | 8,354 served |
| Saint Joseph groundwater · local government · MN1730033 | 7,100 served |
| Sauk Centre groundwater · local government · MN1730037 | 4,657 served |
| Cold Spring groundwater · local government · MN1730006 | 4,201 served |
| Melrose groundwater · local government · MN1730016 | 3,886 served |
| Albany groundwater · local government · MN1730001 | 2,805 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 132 people were held in Stearns County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 128 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 136.
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.
10 school districts have their office in Stearns County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $198.3 million — $156.2 million to run schools, about $16,825 per student, plus $24.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $39.3 million local (mostly property tax), $118.9 million state, $36.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $239.6 million.
Spent $58.2 million — $53 million to run schools, about $12,945 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $16.8 million local (mostly property tax), $43.2 million state, $2.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $91 million.
Spent $35.8 million — $31.8 million to run schools, about $13,341 per student, plus $824,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10 million local (mostly property tax), $25.4 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $26 million.
Spent $29.3 million — $22.9 million to run schools, about $12,793 per student, plus $3.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.6 million local (mostly property tax), $18.8 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $32 million.
Spent $20.2 million — $18.1 million to run schools, about $14,193 per student, plus $439,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.4 million local (mostly property tax), $14.2 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.8 million.
Spent $28.8 million — $15.5 million to run schools, about $13,632 per student, plus $10.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.3 million local (mostly property tax), $12.3 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $42.4 million.
Spent $18.6 million — $12.7 million to run schools, about $11,712 per student, plus $4.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $11.5 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $16.9 million.
Spent $14.6 million — $11.8 million to run schools, about $13,238 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.7 million local (mostly property tax), $9.6 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $18.5 million.
And 2 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 Stearns County about $78.9 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.
230 bridges in Stearns County: 128 in good condition, 95 fair, and 7 poor (3.0%). “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 94 over SAUK RIVER · built 1965 | 14,250 vehicles a day |
| MN 55 over N FK CROW RIVER · built 1937 | 3,400 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 14 over SAUK RIVER · built 1965 | 560 vehicles a day |
| CSAH 32 over N FK CROW RIVER · built 1964 | 455 vehicles a day |
| T 615 over ASHLEY CREEK · built 1959 | 63 vehicles a day |
| T 415 over STREAM · built 2005 | 25 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.9 million of work in Stearns County in fiscal 2025, about $94 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 Stearns 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 Stearns County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Minnesota: the state government and every county in Minnesota.
Nearby counties: Meeker County (30 mi) · Benton County (31 mi) · Kandiyohi County (34 mi) · Morrison County (36 mi) · Todd County (38 mi) · Pope County (40 mi).