Morrison County area

Morrison County, Minnesota covers 1,153.4 square miles: 1,125.1 square miles of land and 28.3 square miles of water. Its county seat is Little Falls. An estimated 34,620 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 270972026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area1,125.1 mi²
Water area28.3 mi²
Population (2025)34,620
People per mi²31

County outline

Generalized outline of Morrison County, Minnesota
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Morrison County is located

Morrison County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 97.5% of Morrison County’s measured area and water for 2.5%. Its combined area converts to 2,987.3 square kilometers or approximately 738,167 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land1,125.12,913.996720,064
Water28.28673.2618,103
Total1,153.3862,987.256738,167

How Morrison County compares

By original Census land area, Morrison County ranks #17 of 87 in Minnesota and #559 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.668 times the Minnesota county-equivalent median of 674.6 square miles. It accounts for 1.4% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Minnesota ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Morrison County

The Census Bureau estimates that 34,620 people lived in Morrison County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #1,352 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #32 of 87 in Minnesota. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 34,003, the population has grown by 617 (+1.8%), compared with +2.2% for Minnesota as a whole.

With 1,125.1 square miles of land, that is 31 people per square mile (12 per km²), placing Morrison County #1,981 nationally for density and #42 in Minnesota. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Minnesota median is 27. Put another way, there are about 21 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate33,99134,06934,27834,32834,49434,620
Change—+78+209+50+166+126

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Morrison County

Morrison County is divided into 46 municipalities and townships. In Minnesota, county subdivisions are local governments, and together they cover all of the county’s land and residents.

The most populous is Little Falls city, with 9,277 residents (26.8% of the county). The largest by land is Cushing township, at 77.7 mi², or 6.9% of the county’s land. Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Little Falls township grew fastest since then (+2.4%).

County subdivisionPopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²Share of county land
Little Falls cityCounty seat9,277+1.7%8.0440.7%
Little Falls townshipCounty seat1,710+2.4%34.63.1%
Pierz city1,450+2%1.3790.1%
Scandia Valley township1,346+2.3%69.46.2%
Royalton city1,270−0.5%1.6740.1%
Bellevue township1,181+2.3%454%
Elmdale township1,003+2.3%38.73.4%
Pike Creek township978+2.2%33.63%
Two Rivers township800+2.4%272.4%
Cushing township790+2.7%77.76.9%
Green Prairie township785+2.3%16.11.4%
Ripley township758+2.4%47.74.2%
Buckman township744+2.1%54.64.8%
Swan River township731+2%37.23.3%
Morrill township713+2.6%35.33.1%
Show the other 31 subdivisions
NamePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Belle Prairie township677+2.3%43
Motley city676+1.5%1.212
Randall city625+2.3%1.999
Pierz township608+2.2%28.1
Agram township574+2.3%19.7
Buh township574+2.9%36
Swanville township520+1.6%35.4
Richardson township516+2.4%34.2
Lakin township482+2.6%35.9
Darling township481+1.9%34
Granite township479+1.9%36.2
Upsala city478−1.6%3.239
Parker township474+2.6%38.4
Culdrum township460+1.8%33.6
Platte township367+3.4%35.7
Swanville city332+1.8%0.47
Pulaski township320+2.2%31.2
Buckman city306−1%1.013
Bowlus city269−2.5%1.279
Motley township253+3.3%15.5
Leigh township227+3.7%35.9
Rosing township225+2.3%18.2
Sobieski city217+1.4%4
Flensburg city211−2.8%6.979
Hillman township201+2%28.2
Harding city124−0.8%3.102
Lastrup city120−3.2%0.369
Elmdale city116+2.7%3.439
Mount Morris township79+2.6%30
Genola city72+1.4%0.307
Hillman city210%0.622

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Morrison County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Morrison County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

20 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Morrison County; 10 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

5630756314563185632856329563315633856340563455634756353563645637356382563845644356449564665647356475

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Morrison County

Morrison County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents. It has more land than 4 of them. The largest neighbor is Cass County (2,021.5 mi²) and the smallest is Benton County (408.3 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Morrison County forms a block of 7,413.6 mi² of land, of which it holds 15.2%.

Map of Morrison County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Todd County, Minnesota: 945.1 mi² landCrow Wing County, Minnesota: 998.5 mi² landBenton County, Minnesota: 408.3 mi² landMille Lacs County, Minnesota: 572.3 mi² landStearns County, Minnesota: 1,342.9 mi² landCass County, Minnesota: 2,021.5 mi² land
Morrison County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. MorrisonCompare
Cass County2,021.51.8× largerCompare
Stearns County1,342.91.2× largerCompare
Crow Wing County998.51.1× smallerCompare
Todd County945.11.2× smallerCompare
Mille Lacs County572.32× smallerCompare
Benton County408.32.8× smallerCompare

How big is Morrison County compared with U.S. states?

Morrison County has more land than 1 of the 50 states. It is about 1.1 times the land area of Rhode Island (1,033.9 mi²), while Delaware, the next larger state, has 1.7 times as much land (1,948.6 mi²). Minnesota’s county land could hold about 71 areas the size of Morrison County.

Land area: Morrison County and the closest-sized states
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²
Morrison County1,125.1 mi²
Delaware1,948.6 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 33.5 miles (54 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Morrison County?

Morrison County has more land than 2,663 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Morrison County1,125.1 mi²
Minnesota median674.6 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Morrison County at #619 nationally by total area, 60 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 2.5%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 1.3 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Morrison County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#558Cowley County, Kansas1,125.7Compare
#559Morrison County, Minnesota1,125.1This county
#560Ulster County, New York1,124.2Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 46.020484, -94.266619. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 2,913,996,449 m²; AWATER: 73,259,804 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Morrison County?

Morrison County, Minnesota has 1,125.1 square miles (2,914 km²) of land and 28.3 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,153.4 square miles. It ranks #559 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Morrison County the largest county in Minnesota?

No. Morrison County ranks #17 of 87 in Minnesota by land area. The largest is St. Louis County, with 6,248.1 square miles of land.

What counties border Morrison County?

Morrison County shares a land border with Todd County, Crow Wing County, Benton County, Mille Lacs County, Stearns County, and Cass County.

What is the population of Morrison County?

The Census Bureau estimates Morrison County had 34,620 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #1,352 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 31 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Morrison County?

The county seat of Morrison County is Little Falls.

What cities and towns are in Morrison County?

Morrison County has 46 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Little Falls city, Little Falls township, Pierz city, Scandia Valley township, and Royalton city.

Is Morrison County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Morrison County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Morrison County?

20 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Morrison County, and 10 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Morrison County compare with U.S. states?

It has more land than 1 of the 50 states, including Rhode Island (1,033.9 square miles of land).

How many acres of land are in Morrison County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 720,064 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 738,167 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

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