Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation

Steele County had the highest annual precipitation of 87 counties in 2020, at 34.72 inches. Big Stone County had the lowest, at 18.23 inches. The median was 24.21 inches and the figure for Minnesota was 24.39 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest34.72Steele County
Lowest18.23Big Stone County
Median24.2187 counties
Minnesota24.39History

Map of counties, 2020

Aitkin County: 26.51 inchesAnoka County: 23.04 inchesBecker County: 22.74 inchesBeltrami County: 23.07 inchesBenton County: 25.16 inchesBig Stone County: 18.23 inchesBlue Earth County: 31.78 inchesBrown County: 27.22 inchesCarlton County: 25.11 inchesCarver County: 27.5 inchesCass County: 24.21 inchesChippewa County: 21.3 inchesChisago County: 25.6 inchesClay County: 21.99 inchesClearwater County: 22.84 inchesCook County: 25.49 inchesCottonwood County: 24.9 inchesCrow Wing County: 24.96 inchesDakota County: 30.15 inchesDodge County: 32.95 inchesDouglas County: 22.4 inchesFaribault County: 29.01 inchesFillmore County: 30.66 inchesFreeborn County: 31.87 inchesGoodhue County: 31.31 inchesGrant County: 21.46 inchesHennepin County: 25.87 inchesHouston County: 33.7 inchesHubbard County: 23.46 inchesIsanti County: 23.86 inchesItasca County: 25.75 inchesJackson County: 22.97 inchesKanabec County: 26.62 inchesKandiyohi County: 21.73 inchesKittson County: 21.51 inchesKoochiching County: 22.44 inchesLac qui Parle County: 18.73 inchesLake County: 23.59 inchesLake of the Woods County: 19.26 inchesLe Sueur County: 33.71 inchesLincoln County: 21.3 inchesLyon County: 23.37 inchesMcLeod County: 20.75 inchesMahnomen County: 19.63 inchesMarshall County: 20.52 inchesMartin County: 25.51 inchesMeeker County: 19.23 inchesMille Lacs County: 25.3 inchesMorrison County: 25.99 inchesMower County: 30.21 inchesMurray County: 24.7 inchesNicollet County: 28.1 inchesNobles County: 21.87 inchesNorman County: 19.9 inchesOlmsted County: 32.08 inchesOtter Tail County: 25.78 inchesPennington County: 20.32 inchesPine County: 26.52 inchesPipestone County: 21.39 inchesPolk County: 19.9 inchesPope County: 21.74 inchesRamsey County: 25.38 inchesRed Lake County: 20.27 inchesRedwood County: 25.69 inchesRenville County: 23.58 inchesRice County: 34.58 inchesRock County: 19.83 inchesRoseau County: 21.17 inchesSt. Louis County: 23.76 inchesScott County: 30.06 inchesSherburne County: 23.35 inchesSibley County: 23.67 inchesStearns County: 24.64 inchesSteele County: 34.72 inchesStevens County: 18.93 inchesSwift County: 21.4 inchesTodd County: 26.21 inchesTraverse County: 18.75 inchesWabasha County: 31.34 inchesWadena County: 24.35 inchesWaseca County: 34.27 inchesWashington County: 27.37 inchesWatonwan County: 29.32 inchesWilkin County: 23.08 inchesWinona County: 32.58 inchesWright County: 23.31 inchesYellow Medicine County: 21.34 inches
  • Under 21
  • 21 to 23
  • 23 to 24
  • 24 to 26
  • 26 to 30
  • 30 and over
inches, 2020. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2020

Steele County: 34.72 inchesSteele County34.72Rice County: 34.58 inchesRice County34.58Waseca County: 34.27 inchesWaseca County34.27Le Sueur County: 33.71 inchesLe Sueur County33.71Houston County: 33.7 inchesHouston County33.7Dodge County: 32.95 inchesDodge County32.95Winona County: 32.58 inchesWinona County32.58Olmsted County: 32.08 inchesOlmsted County32.08Freeborn County: 31.87 inchesFreeborn County31.87Blue Earth County: 31.78 inchesBlue Earth County31.78Wabasha County: 31.34 inchesWabasha County31.34Goodhue County: 31.31 inchesGoodhue County31.31Fillmore County: 30.66 inchesFillmore County30.66Mower County: 30.21 inchesMower County30.21Dakota County: 30.15 inchesDakota County30.15Scott County: 30.06 inchesScott County30.06Watonwan County: 29.32 inchesWatonwan County29.32Faribault County: 29.01 inchesFaribault County29.01Nicollet County: 28.1 inchesNicollet County28.1Carver County: 27.5 inchesCarver County27.5Washington County: 27.37 inchesWashington County27.37Brown County: 27.22 inchesBrown County27.22Kanabec County: 26.62 inchesKanabec County26.62Pine County: 26.52 inchesPine County26.52Aitkin County: 26.51 inchesAitkin County26.51Todd County: 26.21 inchesTodd County26.21Morrison County: 25.99 inchesMorrison County25.99Hennepin County: 25.87 inchesHennepin County25.87Otter Tail County: 25.78 inchesOtter Tail County25.78Itasca County: 25.75 inchesItasca County25.75Redwood County: 25.69 inchesRedwood County25.69Chisago County: 25.6 inchesChisago County25.6Martin County: 25.51 inchesMartin County25.51Cook County: 25.49 inchesCook County25.49Ramsey County: 25.38 inchesRamsey County25.38Mille Lacs County: 25.3 inchesMille Lacs County25.3Benton County: 25.16 inchesBenton County25.16Carlton County: 25.11 inchesCarlton County25.11Crow Wing County: 24.96 inchesCrow Wing County24.96Cottonwood County: 24.9 inchesCottonwood County24.9Steele County: 34.72 inchesSteele County34.72Rice County: 34.58 inchesRice County34.58Waseca County: 34.27 inchesWaseca County34.27Le Sueur County: 33.71 inchesLe Sueur County33.71Houston County: 33.7 inchesHouston County33.7Dodge County: 32.95 inchesDodge County32.95Winona County: 32.58 inchesWinona County32.58Olmsted County: 32.08 inchesOlmsted County32.08Freeborn County: 31.87 inchesFreeborn County31.87Blue Earth County: 31.78 inchesBlue Earth County31.78Wabasha County: 31.34 inchesWabasha County31.34Goodhue County: 31.31 inchesGoodhue County31.31Fillmore County: 30.66 inchesFillmore County30.66Mower County: 30.21 inchesMower County30.21Dakota County: 30.15 inchesDakota County30.15Scott County: 30.06 inchesScott County30.06Watonwan County: 29.32 inchesWatonwan County29.32Faribault County: 29.01 inchesFaribault County29.01Nicollet County: 28.1 inchesNicollet County28.1Carver County: 27.5 inchesCarver County27.5Washington County: 27.37 inchesWashington County27.37Brown County: 27.22 inchesBrown County27.22Kanabec County: 26.62 inchesKanabec County26.62Pine County: 26.52 inchesPine County26.52Aitkin County: 26.51 inchesAitkin County26.51Todd County: 26.21 inchesTodd County26.21Morrison County: 25.99 inchesMorrison County25.99Hennepin County: 25.87 inchesHennepin County25.87Otter Tail County: 25.78 inchesOtter Tail County25.78Itasca County: 25.75 inchesItasca County25.75Redwood County: 25.69 inchesRedwood County25.69Chisago County: 25.6 inchesChisago County25.6Martin County: 25.51 inchesMartin County25.51Cook County: 25.49 inchesCook County25.49Ramsey County: 25.38 inchesRamsey County25.38Mille Lacs County: 25.3 inchesMille Lacs County25.3Benton County: 25.16 inchesBenton County25.16Carlton County: 25.11 inchesCarlton County25.11Crow Wing County: 24.96 inchesCrow Wing County24.96Cottonwood County: 24.9 inchesCottonwood County24.9
inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2020
inches
Change on 2019
1Steele County34.72-30.4%
2Rice County34.58-28.9%
3Waseca County34.27-26.4%
4Le Sueur County33.71-24.4%
5Houston County33.7-29.4%
6Dodge County32.95-35.6%
7Winona County32.58-33.7%
8Olmsted County32.08-36.8%
9Freeborn County31.87-29.2%
10Blue Earth County31.78-26.9%
11Wabasha County31.34-34%
12Goodhue County31.31-32.4%
13Fillmore County30.66-37.8%
14Mower County30.21-37.4%
15Dakota County30.15-26.2%
16Scott County30.06-29.1%
17Watonwan County29.32-30.5%
18Faribault County29.01-33.7%
19Nicollet County28.1-30.9%
20Carver County27.5-31.6%
21Washington County27.37-33.2%
22Brown County27.22-32.2%
23Kanabec County26.62-34.4%
24Pine County26.52-35.2%
25Aitkin County26.51-26.7%
26Todd County26.21-27.7%
27Morrison County25.99-30.1%
28Hennepin County25.87-37.1%
29Otter Tail County25.78-19.9%
30Itasca County25.75-11.6%
31Redwood County25.69-35.9%
32Chisago County25.6-35.7%
33Martin County25.51-38.9%
34Cook County25.49-25.1%
35Ramsey County25.38-38.7%
36Mille Lacs County25.3-33%
37Benton County25.16-36.9%
38Carlton County25.11-33.7%
39Crow Wing County24.96-31.9%
40Cottonwood County24.9-40.3%
41Murray County24.7-41.3%
42Stearns County24.64-36.2%
43Wadena County24.35-28.1%
44Cass County24.21-25.6%
45Isanti County23.86-39%
46St. Louis County23.76-24%
47Sibley County23.67-37.8%
48Lake County23.59-27.7%
49Renville County23.58-37.6%
50Hubbard County23.46-28.8%
51Lyon County23.37-44.3%
52Sherburne County23.35-40.8%
53Wright County23.31-39.1%
54Wilkin County23.08-20.5%
55Beltrami County23.07-22.1%
56Anoka County23.04-40.7%
57Jackson County22.97-46.3%
58Clearwater County22.84-25.4%
59Becker County22.74-27.6%
60Koochiching County22.44-29.3%
61Douglas County22.4-31.1%
62Clay County21.99-30.3%
63Nobles County21.87-49.2%
64Pope County21.74-36.8%
65Kandiyohi County21.73-40.4%
66Kittson County21.51-13.6%
67Grant County21.46-33.3%
68Swift County21.4-38.8%
69Pipestone County21.39-48%
70Yellow Medicine County21.34-45.6%
71Chippewa County21.3-41.7%
71Lincoln County21.3-49.6%
73Roseau County21.17-27.2%
74McLeod County20.75-39.5%
75Marshall County20.52-28.4%
76Pennington County20.32-26.8%
77Red Lake County20.27-26.2%
78Norman County19.9-36.9%
78Polk County19.9-32.6%
80Rock County19.83-48.9%
81Mahnomen County19.63-36.3%
82Lake of the Woods County19.26-34.1%
83Meeker County19.23-44.3%
84Stevens County18.93-43.3%
85Traverse County18.75-41.8%
86Lac qui Parle County18.73-46.9%
87Big Stone County18.23-44.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Total precipitation from January to December, in inches: rain plus the water content of snow and other frozen precipitation. NOAA computes it from its climate divisional dataset (nClimDiv): station readings interpolated onto a 5 km grid and averaged over the area.

Values are area averages, not the reading at one weather station. NOAA revises the last two years every month.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (2026). NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties (Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping

MLA 9

NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation, 2020. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 6 Oct. 2026, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/minnesota-counties?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. 2026. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/minnesota-counties?period=2020.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/minnesota-counties?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{noaa_counties_in_minnesota_by_2020,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/minnesota-counties?period=2020. Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
TI  - NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
PB  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/minnesota-counties?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/minnesota-counties?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Minnesota by annual precipitation using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"precipitation_annual","level":"province","within":"Minnesota","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=precipitation_annual&level=province&within=Minnesota&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest annual precipitation?

Steele County, with 34.72 inches in 2020, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which county has the lowest annual precipitation?

Big Stone County, with 18.23 inches in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Annual precipitation: other rankings

Counties in Minnesota: more rankings