Crow Wing County, Minnesota

Crow Wing County is a county in Minnesota, United States, centred on the resort-lake country of the state’s central lakes region. It had a population of 66,123 at the 2020 census and covers 999 square miles of land plus 157 square miles of water (2,590 km2 land, 410 km2 water), centred near 46°29′N 94°04′W.

Brainerd is the county seat, and its postal code is 56401. The county has 18 incorporated cities, one census-designated place (Merrifield), roughly 19 named unincorporated communities, and 28 organized townships. Crow Wing County sits in the Central time zone.

Towns & Villages in Crow Wing County

Eighteen cities are incorporated, ranging from the county seat down to small resort towns on individual lakes; Merrifield is the county’s one census-designated place. Type key: City · seat = the county seat; CDP = census-designated place (unincorporated but tracked by the Census Bureau); Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no municipal government.

Old Crow Wing, the county’s original namesake settlement on the Mississippi River, was bypassed when the Northern Pacific Railroad chose Brainerd for its river crossing in 1870 and is now a recognized ghost town, not a going community — it is omitted from the table above for that reason. A handful of old plat names for trailer courts and mobile-home parks that once circulated in local listings (Fritz’s Resort Trailer Park, Golden Rule Trailer Park, Perch Lake Trailer Court, and similar) could not be confirmed as standing places and are left out; see notes for the full drop list.

Townships

Crow Wing County has 28 organized civil townships, most named for the lake or landform at their center. Bay Lake, Center, Crow Wing, Daggett Brook, Deerwood, Fairfield, Fort Ripley, Gail Lake, Garrison, Ideal, Irondale, Jenkins, Lake Edward, Little Pine, Long Lake, Maple Grove, Mission, Nokay Lake, Oak Lawn, Pelican, Perry Lake, Platte Lake, Rabbit Lake, Roosevelt, Ross Lake, Saint Mathias, Timothy, and Wolford Townships cover the rural area outside the incorporated cities; a former Sibley Township was later dissolved or absorbed. Per-township 2020 population figures were not independently verified and are omitted rather than estimated.

ZIP Codes

• 56401 — Brainerd (post office town)
• 56425 — Baxter
• 56441 — Crosby
• 56444 — Deerwood
• 56449 — Fort Ripley
• 56450 — Garrison
• 56468 — Nisswa
• 56472 — Pequot Lakes (also serves Breezy Point)

Smaller cities and unincorporated communities such as Crosslake, Ironton, Jenkins, Emily, Fifty Lakes, Manhattan Beach, Cuyuna, Riverton, and Trommald share ZIP codes with a neighboring post office town; the exact assignments were not independently verified and are left out here.

Geography

Crow Wing County lies in the transition zone between Minnesota’s hardwood-forest south and its pine-forest north, a landscape shaped by glacial moraines and outwash that left behind an estimated 417 recognized lakes. Gull Lake, the largest at 9,419 acres, anchors the county’s resort economy along with the Whitefish and Pelican Lake chains. The Mississippi River enters the county from the northwest and flows south past Brainerd, joined by the Crow Wing River near the old Crow Wing townsite; the Crow Wing River itself forms part of the county’s western edge. Water covers roughly 14 percent of the county’s total area, unusually high even by Minnesota standards.

Crow Wing County borders Cass County to the north, Aitkin County to the east, Mille Lacs County to the southeast, and Morrison County to the south.

Demographics

The county’s population was 66,123 at the 2020 census, spread across 999 square miles of land for a density of about 66 people per square mile. Brainerd, the county seat, and Baxter, its immediate neighbor along Highway 371, are the two largest communities and together form the core of the Brainerd micropolitan area. Median household income in the county has historically trailed the Minnesota median of $85,086; the county’s own current figure was not independently verified for this profile.

Economy & Local Life

Tourism and lake-resort recreation drive much of the local economy — the county’s hundreds of lakes support fishing, boating, and seasonal cabin ownership that swells the summer population well past the year-round census count. Brainerd and Baxter also serve as the regional health-care and retail hub for a wide swath of north-central Minnesota, anchored by Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd. The Cuyuna Iron Range, in the county’s south, was once a working iron-mining district; its abandoned pits have since been reclaimed as the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area, now known for mountain biking and diving in the flooded former mine pits.

History

Crow Wing County was created on May 23, 1857, and formally organized on March 3, 1870, taking its name from the Crow Wing River, itself named for an island near its mouth said to resemble a crow’s folded wing. The original county seat and namesake settlement, Crow Wing, was a fur-trade and steamboat town on the Mississippi River; it lost its position when the Northern Pacific Railroad chose Brainerd, a few miles upstream, as its river-crossing point in 1870, and the old townsite was abandoned within a generation. A more recent chapter of county history is environmental: the former Burlington Northern railroad-tie treatment operation in the Brainerd/Baxter area contaminated groundwater with creosote byproducts and was placed on the EPA Superfund National Priorities List for cleanup.

Getting There

U.S. Route 169 and Minnesota State Highways 6, 18, 25, 210, and 371 cross the county, with Brainerd and Baxter as the regional highway hub.

• Brainerd — county seat, at the junction of Highways 210 and 371
• Baxter — adjoining Brainerd immediately to the west along Highway 371
• Crosby — about 20 miles southeast of Brainerd via Highway 210/6
• Pequot Lakes — about 20 miles north of Brainerd via Highway 371

Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport (BRD), just east of Brainerd, is the county’s commercial airport with scheduled service to Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Crow Wing County?
It is in Minnesota’s central lakes region, roughly two hours north of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

What is the population of Crow Wing County?
66,123 people, per the 2020 census.

How big is Crow Wing County?
999 square miles of land plus 157 square miles of water, for a total of about 1,156 square miles.

What is the county seat of Crow Wing County?
Brainerd is the county seat.

How many towns are in Crow Wing County?
Eighteen incorporated cities, one census-designated place, and about two dozen unincorporated communities spread across 28 townships.

What ZIP codes are in Crow Wing County?
Brainerd’s postal code is 56401; other cities including Baxter, Crosby, Deerwood, Fort Ripley, Garrison, Nisswa, and Pequot Lakes have their own ZIP codes.

Why is it called Crow Wing County?
It takes its name from the Crow Wing River, named in turn for an island near its mouth whose shape resembles a crow’s folded wing.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Minnesota.