In 2008, 78.3% of Cook County residents owned their home, a percentage greater than the statewide average of 74.6%. Median household income for that year was $46,406 versus $57,318 for the rest of the state, however. Some 9.1% of Cook County residents fell below the poverty line while 9.6% percent lived below poverty levels throughout Minnesota.
These and other interesting facts can be found in Cook County Quickfacts from the U.S. Census Bureau (quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/ states/17/17031.html).
According to the census we have more grey hair and fewer youth than the rest of the state. Cook County has a greater percentage of people over age 65 (17.4%) compared to statewide (12.5%), and 17.5% of our population is under 18 years of age versus 24% for the state as whole.
Only 4.7% of our population is under the age of 5 while 6.9% is the average for the rest of Minnesota.
One fact we were all pretty certain of was intelligence. We are smarter, and the census proves what we knew all along. The census shows that 28.8% of Cook County residents 25 and older hold bachelor’s degrees (or higher) while the rest of the state trails with 27.4%.
In the year 2000, the median value of an owner-occupied house in Cook County was $107,700 compared to $122,400 statewide.
The percentage of white people living in Cook County is virtually the same as in the state as a whole: 88.5% to 89%. We have an indigenous population of 8.4%, whereas the statewide average is only 1.2%, and only 4.3% of us speak a second language at home, compared to 8.5% speaking two or more languages in the household statewide.
We spend an average of 18.2 minutes getting to work while the rest of the state spends 21.9 minutes.
As for land, Cook County has 1,450.6 square miles within its borders. The state has 79,610.08 square miles.
In the year 2000, Cook County had 3.6 people per square mile compared to 61.8 people per square mile in the rest of the state.
So there you have it. According to the census we are a little older, a little more educated, and a little broker than the rest of our fellow Minnesotans. One thing that couldn’t be measured? Happiness. Now that’s where we lead the state by the bucket load.
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