Stearns County is a county in Minnesota, United States, centred on the city of St. Cloud along the upper Mississippi River. It had a population of 158,292 at the 2020 census and covers 1,390 square miles (3,600 km2), of which 1,343 square miles (3,480 km2) is land, centred near 45°33′N 94°37′W.
St. Cloud is the county seat, and its postal code is 56301. The county contains 31 incorporated cities, 2 census-designated places, roughly a dozen unincorporated communities and 31 civil townships. It sits in the Central time zone and anchors the St. Cloud metropolitan area.
Towns & Villages in Stearns County
Stearns County’s settlement pattern reflects heavy 19th-century German Catholic immigration: dozens of small farm-town parishes dot the county alongside the St. Cloud urban core. Several cities straddle the county line and are shared with neighboring counties, noted below. CDP = census-designated place (unincorporated); Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no formal municipal government.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany | City | Albany | — | 56307 |
| Avon | City | Avon | — | 56310 |
| Belgrade | City | — | — | 56312 |
| Brooten | City · shared with Pope Co. | — | — | 56316 |
| Cold Spring | City | — | — | 56320 |
| Eden Valley | City · shared with Meeker Co. | — | — | — |
| Elrosa | City | — | — | 56325 |
| Fairhaven | CDP | Fair Haven | — | — |
| Farming | Unincorp. | Farming | — | — |
| Five Points | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Freeport | City | — | — | 56331 |
| Georgeville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Greenwald | City | — | — | 56335 |
| Holdingford | City | Holding | — | 56340 |
| Jacobs Prairie | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Kimball | City · shared with Meeker Co. | — | — | 55353 |
| Lake Henry | City | Lake Henry | — | — |
| Luxemburg | Unincorp. | Luxemburg | — | — |
| Marty | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Meire Grove | City | — | — | — |
| Melrose | City | Melrose | — | 56352 |
| New Munich | City | — | — | 56356 |
| Opole | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Padua | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Paynesville | City · shared with Kandiyohi/Meeker Co. | Paynesville | — | 56362 |
| Pleasant Lake | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Richmond | City | — | — | 56368 |
| Rockville | City | — | — | 56369 |
| Roscoe | City | — | — | 56371 |
| Saint Anna | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Saint Anthony | City | — | — | — |
| Saint Augusta | City | — | — | — |
| Saint Cloud | City · seat | — | — | 56301 |
| Saint Francis | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Saint John’s University | CDP | Collegeville | — | 56321 |
| Collegeville | Unincorp. | Collegeville | — | 56321 |
| Saint Joseph | City | Saint Joseph | — | 56374 |
| Saint Martin | City | Saint Martin | — | 56376 |
| Saint Nicholas | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Saint Rosa | City | — | — | — |
| Saint Stephen | City | — | — | 56375 |
| Saint Wendel | Unincorp. | Saint Wendel | — | — |
| Sartell | City · shared with Benton Co. | — | — | 56377 |
| Sauk Centre | City | Sauk Centre | — | 56378 |
| Spring Hill | City | Spring Hill | — | — |
| Waite Park | City | — | — | 56387 |
Five cities straddle a county line and only their Stearns County portion is counted here: Brooten (Pope), Eden Valley (Meeker), Kimball (Meeker), Paynesville (Kandiyohi and Meeker), and Sartell (Benton).
Townships
Stearns County has 31 organized civil townships governing the unincorporated countryside around its cities. Populations are not separately published for 2020; the table lists each township and, where confirmed, the settlement it takes its name from.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Albany | — | Albany (city) |
| Ashley | — | — |
| Avon | — | Avon (city) |
| Brockway | — | — |
| Collegeville | — | Collegeville, Saint John’s University CDP |
| Crow Lake | — | — |
| Crow River | — | — |
| Eden Lake | — | — |
| Fair Haven | — | Fairhaven CDP |
| Farming | — | Farming |
| Getty | — | — |
| Grove | — | — |
| Holding | — | Holdingford (city) |
| Krain | — | — |
| Lake George | — | — |
| Lake Henry | — | Lake Henry (city) |
| Le Sauk | — | — |
| Luxemburg | — | Luxemburg |
| Lynden | — | — |
| Maine Prairie | — | — |
| Melrose | — | Melrose (city) |
| Millwood | — | — |
| Munson | — | — |
| North Fork | — | — |
| Oak | — | — |
| Paynesville | — | Paynesville (city) |
| Raymond | — | — |
| Saint Joseph | — | Saint Joseph (city) |
| Saint Martin | — | Saint Martin (city) |
| Saint Wendel | — | Saint Wendel |
| Sauk Centre | — | Sauk Centre (city) |
| Spring Hill | — | Spring Hill (city) |
| Wakefield | — | — |
| Zion | — | — |
ZIP Codes
- 56301 — Saint Cloud (also serves Saint Augusta)
- 56377 — Sartell
- 56374 — Saint Joseph
- 56378 — Sauk Centre
- 56320 — Cold Spring
- 56387 — Waite Park
- 56352 — Melrose
- 56362 — Paynesville (also serves Lake Henry)
- 56310 — Avon
- 56307 — Albany
- 56368 — Richmond
- 55353 — Kimball
- 56340 — Holdingford
- 56312 — Belgrade
- 56331 — Freeport
- 56321 — Collegeville (also serves Saint John’s University)
- 56316 — Brooten
- 56375 — Saint Stephen
- 56369 — Rockville
- 56376 — Saint Martin
- 56335 — Greenwald
- 56356 — New Munich
- 56325 — Elrosa
- 56371 — Roscoe
Several small unincorporated places, including Farming, Georgeville, Jacobs Prairie, Opole, Padua and Saint Anna, have no ZIP code of their own and are served by a nearby town’s post office.
Geography
Stearns County lies in central Minnesota on the transition between prairie farmland to the west and lake-and-woodland country to the east. The Mississippi River forms much of its eastern border, and the county holds hundreds of smaller lakes, including Big Sauk Lake and the Sauk River chain that runs southeast to join the Mississippi at Saint Cloud. Farmland dominates the western townships, while granite quarries near Rockville and Cold Spring gave the St. Cloud area its historic nickname, the “Granite City.”
Stearns County borders Todd County to the north, Morrison County to the northeast, Benton County to the east, Sherburne County to the southeast, Wright County to the south-southeast, Meeker County to the south, Kandiyohi County to the southwest, Pope County to the west, and Douglas County to the northwest.
Demographics
Stearns County had 158,292 residents at the 2020 census, spread across 1,343 square miles for a density of about 118 people per square mile. Saint Cloud is by far the largest city, followed by Sartell and Sauk Centre. Median household income runs close to the Minnesota median of $85,086, with St. Cloud’s college-town economy and the surrounding farm townships both contributing. The county has a substantial share of residents claiming German ancestry, a legacy of the 19th-century Catholic settlement wave.
Economy & Local Life
Saint Cloud State University and the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University (the latter in Collegeville) anchor a regional economy built on higher education, health care, and manufacturing, alongside CentraCare’s hospital system headquartered in St. Cloud. Outside the urban core, dairy and crop farming remain central to the smaller townships, and granite quarrying continues around Rockville and Cold Spring. The Great Northern Pow Wow, Sauk Centre’s Sinclair Lewis Days, and Freeport’s annual celebrations are among the county’s local events.
History
Stearns County was organized on February 20, 1855, cut from the Minnesota Territory. It was originally to be named for territorial governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens, but a clerical error in the naming legislation instead named it for Charles Thomas Stearns, a local businessman. Heavy German Catholic immigration through the 1850s–1870s gave the county one of the largest rural Catholic populations in the country, and settlers from Stearns County went on to found daughter colonies in Todd, Douglas and Morrison counties and in Saskatchewan. Sauk Centre is the birthplace of novelist Sinclair Lewis, who fictionalized the town as “Gopher Prairie” in his 1920 novel Main Street.
Getting There
Interstate 94 runs through the heart of the county via St. Cloud, Waite Park and Albany, and U.S. Highways 52 and 71 both pass through St. Cloud as well. State Highways 4, 15, 22, 23, 24, 28, 55, 237 and 238 connect the smaller towns.
- Minneapolis — 65 miles southeast
- Fargo, ND — 110 miles northwest
- Alexandria — 30 miles northwest
- Willmar — 35 miles southwest
St. Cloud Regional Airport offers commercial and general aviation service; the nearest major hub is Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Stearns County?
It is in central Minnesota, along the upper Mississippi River, about 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
What is the population of Stearns County?
158,292 at the 2020 census.
How big is Stearns County?
1,343 square miles (3,480 km2) of land plus 47 square miles (120 km2) of water.
What is the county seat of Stearns County?
Saint Cloud is the county seat and the largest city.
How many towns and cities are in Stearns County?
31 incorporated cities, 2 census-designated places and about a dozen unincorporated communities, spread across 31 townships.
What ZIP codes are in Stearns County?
24 primary ZIP codes, from 56301 in Saint Cloud to 56387 in Waite Park; see the ZIP Codes section above.
What is Stearns County known for?
Sinclair Lewis’s hometown of Sauk Centre, its large German Catholic heritage, granite quarrying, and Saint Cloud’s twin universities, Saint Cloud State University and Saint John’s/Saint Benedict’s.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Minnesota.