(Editor’s Note: The following article was drawn from the Wright County website.)

 Wright County has been growing at a high rate for the last four decades and, from the looks of things, not only is it not slowing down, it’s speeding up.

In between census periods, the official population totals for states, counties, cities and townships are calculated by the State Demographer’s Office, which uses household data to determine the official population numbers used in state aid formulas.

The 2021 population totals show that Wright County grew by 3,611 people. If this trend continues, Wright County will grow by 36,000 people over the next decade – a growth rate of 26 percent.

By far the largest growth is in the City of Otsego, which became the first city in the county to surpass 20,000 residents – increasing its population by 1,323 people. St. Michael grew by 794 people. Those two cities accounted for 59 percent of the county’s growth.

Another interesting development has been the surprising growth in the City of Clearwater. From the 2010 Census to the 2020 Census, Clearwater grew by 185 people (to 1,918 people). In 2021 alone, the city grew by 166 people – an eight percent increase in just one year.