German Population in Wright County, MN by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The German population in Wright County, MN is officially recorded at 51,102, with all of the county''s incorporated cities reporting residents of German ancestry. Among them, St. Michael (6,677), Otsego (6,085), and Buffalo (5,755) account for the largest shares. Interestingly, when adding up individual city estimates, the total surpasses the county-level figure - a difference that often arises from how city and county statistics are modeled separately. Below, we explore how German communities are distributed across Minnesota''s more urbanized and fragmented counties.

Top 5 cities with the largest German population in Wright County

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  • 1
    St. Michael
    German population in St. Michael is 6,677
    34.66% of St. Michael population is German
  • 2
    Otsego
    German population in Otsego is 6,085
    28.49% of Otsego population is German
  • 3
    Buffalo
    German population in Buffalo is 5,755
    35.12% of Buffalo population is German
  • 4
    Monticello
    German population in Monticello is 5,520
    37.79% of Monticello population is German
  • 5
    Albertville
    German population in Albertville is 2,825
    35.02% of Albertville population is German

Overview of German population in Wright County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data document Wright County with 51,102 German residents (35.2% of 145,270 total county population), placing the jurisdiction at the 93rd percentile nationally among counties and 92nd percentile within Minnesota for German population density, with demographic concentrations among the highest nationwide.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS show Wright County's German population of 35.2% surpassing both Minnesota's state average of 29.7% and the national average of 12.6%, positioning the county as a high-concentration jurisdiction exceeding demographic benchmarks across all geographic scales.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey data documents Wright County with 51,102 German residents, representing 3% of Minnesota's total German population of 1.7 million.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey indicate Wright County's density of 77.3 German Americans per square mile exceeds Minnesota's average of 21.3 per square mile by more than triple, establishing the county as a significant concentration center for German demographic communities.
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33 Cities in Wright County Ranked by German Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm German populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in St. Michael, Otsego, Buffalo, and Monticello. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 33 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Wright County, MN ranked by German population count
Rank by German Population
City
German Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Wright County German Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 St. Michael 6,677 34.66% 13.07%
2 Otsego 6,085 28.49% 11.91%
3 Buffalo 5,755 35.12% 11.26%
4 Monticello 5,520 37.79% 10.80%
5 Albertville 2,825 35.02% 5.53%
6 Delano 2,363 35.21% 4.62%
7 Rockford 1,544 34.15% 3.02%
8 1,479 43.95% 2.89%
9 1,477 38.46% 2.89%
10 1,324 39.94% 2.59%
11 1,078 42.09% 2.11%
12 1,031 40.35% 2.02%
13 1,008 38.89% 1.97%
14 1,003 28.70% 1.96%
15 988 29.21% 1.93%
16 905 32.55% 1.77%
17 877 30.21% 1.72%
18 840 39.92% 1.64%
19 830 36.18% 1.62%
20 799 42.86% 1.56%
21 703 37.73% 1.38%
22 686 51.81% 1.34%
23 662 34.77% 1.30%
24 605 31.07% 1.18%
25 566 37.63% 1.11%
26 541 39.75% 1.06%
27 533 54.00% 1.04%
28 529 39.54% 1.04%
29 498 45.44% 0.97%
30 465 28.13% 0.91%
31 395 39.82% 0.77%
32 325 33.75% 0.64%
33 307 29.78% 0.60%
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Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks city in Wright County, MN by their German population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines German population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having German ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as German alone, while others identify as German along with another race (such as German and German).
  • We’ve used the “German alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the German population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as German alone or in combination in city. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as German .
  2. % of Total Wright County German Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. German population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small German populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • City that don’t have any reported German population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where German populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.