Commissioner Thein’s board chair remarks from January 21, 2025

  • News
  • Jan 22, 2025

At the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners meeting on January 21, 2025, Commissioner Thein, the board chair for 2025, shared the following remarks. 

There are approximately 164,784 people living in Olmsted County today – 122,692 live within the City of Rochester and 42,090 live in one of our smaller communities such as Stewartville, Byron, Pine Island, Eyota, Oronoco, Chatfield, and Dover, or one of our 18 Townships. One hundred thirty-nine are currently in our Adult Detention Center.  

In addition, there are approximately 2,739 people arriving in Olmsted County today alone to seek medical treatment at Mayo Clinic and most of them have brought along at least one family member for support. Over 42,000 people are in Olmsted County today because they work for Mayo Clinic. The next largest employers in Olmsted County are Rochester Public Schools with 2,872 employees, IBM with 2,794, and Olmsted County with 1,371 employees.

  • 48,283 of Olmsted County residents do not own their own home.   
  • 28,672 are 65 years old or older.
  • 30,485 are people of color.
  • There are 704 more women than men living in Olmsted County.
  • 8,240 of our adult residents have not graduated high school.
  • 13,183 of our residents live below the poverty line.
  • The median household income in Olmsted County is $90,452.00; 5,382 of our households earn less than $20,000 annually; 9,170 earn more than $200,000.
  • 10,546 of our residents under the age of 65 have a physical disability.
  • 6,756 of our residents under the age of 65 do not have health insurance.
  • 24,388 of our residents speak a language other than English in their home.
  • 18,785 of our residents were not born in this country.
  • 8,997 of our residents are in need of treatment for substance abuse.
  • 46,634 of our residents dealt with anxiety or depression in the past year.  
  • On any given day, there are around 200 adults experiencing homelessness within Olmsted County and Rochester Public Schools has identified about 570 students who are without permanent housing.  
  • There are 7 Olmsted County residents who have been elected to respond to the various needs of all of the people outlined above.  

 
I believe that there is ONE common denominator that ALL Olmsted County residents have in common – they want today to be better than yesterday and tomorrow to be better than today. In a community that is comparatively prosperous, forward thinking and poised for growth, I think that is a reasonable expectation. 

I can attest that the 1,371 Olmsted County employees and 7 county commissioners go to work every day with a goal of making sure that every one of our residents and visitors has a better chance to thrive today than they did yesterday.  

Olmsted County is a great county to work, live and grow in – truly second to none. I am proud to represent Olmsted County and vow to work with my colleagues to make sure that Olmsted County continues to lead, and our residents truly have a chance to thrive.

I am optimistic that 2025 is going to be a great year and look forward to putting in the work necessary to ensure that happens.