Luverne, Rock County populations grow

The populations of Luverne and Rock County both grew over the past 10 years, according to U.S. Census data released Thursday.
Rock County’s population grew by a slim .02 percent (17 people), from 9,687 in 2010 to the latest count of 9,704 in 2020.
Luverne’s population grew by 4 percent, from 4,745 in 2010 to 4,946 in 2020.
The gain is welcome news in rural Minnesota where many communities are shrinking, but the final tally is just shy of the 5,000-person threshold Census volunteers had hoped for.
“Initially it was a complete disappointment the city of Luverne was only 54 people short of reaching a population goal of 5,000,” said city clerk Jessica Mead.
Local leaders and volunteers had formed a Complete Count Committee to educate community members and work to make sure every resident was counted, and Mead was at the helm of group.
In terms of state and federal budgeting, cities of 5,000 or more are better positioned to receive that support.
While the committee didn’t reach its goal, Mead said the group’s efforts helped to ensure most of Luverne’s residents were counted.
“Seeing an average population change of two percent for other southwest Minnesota county seat cities, we are ecstatic to see over a four percent increase,” she said.
“We are also happy to see Rock County shows a positive increase when most southwest Minnesota counties saw a decrease.”
While both Luverne and Rock County showed only modest gains, any population increase is noteworthy in a part of the state where many communities continue to show population declines.
Pipestone and Pipestone County shrank by roughly 2 percent. Murray County and Slayton declined nearly 7 percent and Redwood Falls and Redwood County shrank by more than 3 percent.
In Rock County, Luverne carried the county’s population gains, and Hills held its own with a 2020 count of 686 people, exactly the same number as in 2010.
All other Rock County cities reported population declines.
•Beaver Creek decreased from 297 to 280.
•Magnolia shrank from 222 to 196.
•Hardwick decreased from 198 to 189.
•Steen is down from 180 to 171.
•Kenneth dropped from 68 to 60.
Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday provided a more detailed look at population and demographic shifts within each state, including information on individual counties and cities.
Figures released earlier this year showed that Minnesota’s population grew to 5.7 million in 2020, an increase of 7.6 percent, which was just enough for the state to keep its eight congressional districts.
Thursday’s data release also included race, age and other demographic information for Minnesotans in the 2020 census.
One of the most important impacts of new census data is that it affects the state’s political map, which must be redrawn to reflect population shifts.
Redistricting data will also be important at the local level where census data is used to determine boundaries of Luverne’s voting wards. In turn, population data from the Luverne wards can have an impact on Rock County commissioner districts.