Counties with the oldest homes in Minnesota
Counties with the oldest homes in Minnesota
There's an undeniable charm that comes with pre-World War II American architecture, characterized by high ceilings, crown molding, hardwood floors, and ornate details. In fact, 11.4% of all housing units in America were built in 1939 or before, showing the popularity of the preservation of these units. Owning a piece of history can sometimes come with a cost: Many old homes come with asbestos, lead piping, knob-and-tube wiring, and other outdated building styles that can rack up a hefty price tag to modernize. However, with more and more modernized pre-war homes on the market, generally located just outside bustling downtown metros, investing in property that has withstood the test of time is an attractive prospect.
Stacker compiled a list of the counties in Minnesota with the oldest homes using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Counties are ranked by median year the structure was built according to 2023 5-year estimates. Ties broken by the highest percentage of homes built before 1939.
The country's domestic architecture is perhaps best characterized by a rugged individualism as opposed to the hybridization of disparate architectural elements. As Maya Angelou once perceptively observed, "the ache for home lives in all of us," a phrase that has meant very different things to different people.
Modest or palatial, there is no shortage of noteworthy homes in the U.S. Log cabins constructed by industrious pioneers have dotted the landscape alongside traditional Native American dwellings ever since immigrant Swedes introduced them to the New World in 1638. The unprecedented personal fortunes amassed by the so-called "Robber Barons" at the close of the 19th century gave way to the construction of a staggering number of Gilded Age estates.
The ravages of time spared neither the sumptuous nor the humble. Stately mansions, often prohibitively costly to maintain in the modern era, were frequently neglected; simple structures were forgotten, discarded by their owners, and damaged by natural elements. However, the tireless efforts of architectural preservationists and local historical societies have saved many of these homes from demolition, leading to their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and thereby safeguarding them for future generations.
Keep reading to learn more about which counties in Minnesota have the oldest homes.
#50. Mahnomen County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 16.5% (421 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (14 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,552
#49. Meeker County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 17.6% (1,876 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (80 homes)
- Total homes built: 10,671
#48. Steele County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 19.1% (3,035 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (65 homes)
- Total homes built: 15,878
#47. Pennington County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 19.7% (1,331 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (22 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,755
#46. Carlton County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 18.3% (2,893 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (89 homes)
- Total homes built: 15,830
#45. Wadena County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 18.7% (1,308 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (47 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,990
#44. Todd County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 21.6% (2,795 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (108 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,929
#43. Goodhue County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.4% (5,146 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.4% (302 homes)
- Total homes built: 21,071
#42. Koochiching County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 14.7% (1,092 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (33 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,418
#41. Hennepin County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 18.6% (105,002 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (6,463 homes)
- Total homes built: 564,441
#40. Le Sueur County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.4% (3,040 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (99 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,978
#39. Lyon County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 20.0% (2,253 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (47 homes)
- Total homes built: 11,252
#38. Marshall County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 20.9% (921 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (20 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,416
#37. Polk County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 22.4% (3,287 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (10 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,670
#36. Pope County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.6% (1,575 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (15 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,411
#35. Lake County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 15.2% (1,124 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (18 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,405
#34. Waseca County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.1% (1,829 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (21 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,910
#33. Houston County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.4% (2,222 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (31 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,755
#32. Winona County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 29.1% (6,324 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (122 homes)
- Total homes built: 21,763
#31. Red Lake County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.3% (495 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.7% (32 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,884
#30. Nobles County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.3% (1,956 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (22 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,398
#29. Stevens County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 22.2% (933 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (20 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,201
#28. Wilkin County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.0% (714 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (15 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,977
#27. Kittson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.4% (578 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (7 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,279
#26. Fillmore County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 34.8% (3,368 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (64 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,669
#25. Ramsey County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.6% (59,227 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (1,744 homes)
- Total homes built: 231,606
#24. Grant County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 27.8% (875 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (18 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,146
#23. Murray County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.4% (1,160 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (12 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,401
#22. Redwood County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.3% (2,013 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (43 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,103
#21. Traverse County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 29.1% (551 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (6 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,896
#20. St. Louis County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.6% (29,736 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (506 homes)
- Total homes built: 103,924
#19. Sibley County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.7% (1,992 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (43 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,482
#18. Cottonwood County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.7% (1,376 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (23 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,163
#17. Norman County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.2% (974 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (3 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,228
#16. Brown County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.1% (3,668 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (53 homes)
- Total homes built: 11,802
#15. Watonwan County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.2% (1,581 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (1 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,904
#14. Lincoln County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 33.4% (1,021 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (10 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,061
#13. Freeborn County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 27.0% (3,808 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (15 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,116
#12. Swift County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.3% (1,329 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (4 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,697
#11. Pipestone County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.1% (1,297 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (4 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,316
#10. Martin County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.7% (2,982 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (8 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,715
#9. Renville County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.5% (2,243 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (5 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,911
#8. Rock County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 33.2% (1,406 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (27 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,236
#7. Mower County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.9% (4,221 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (40 homes)
- Total homes built: 16,963
#6. Chippewa County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.5% (1,779 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (10 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,649
#5. Big Stone County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 34.1% (1,018 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.3% (38 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,984
#4. Jackson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 33.9% (1,665 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (10 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,914
#3. Yellow Medicine County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 35.8% (1,615 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (2 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,512
#2. Faribault County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 37.2% (2,576 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (13 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,921
#1. Lac qui Parle County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 42.0% (1,460 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (4 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,474