Rice County /

Rice County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 64,142. Its county seat is Faribault. According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 516.13 square miles (1,336.8 km), of which 497.57 square miles (1,288.7 km) (or 96.40%) is land and 18.56 square miles (48.1 km) (or 3.60%) is water. The Cannon River flows northeastwardly through the county, collecting the Straight River in Faribault. The North Fork of the Zumbro River has its headwaters in the southeastern part of the county. As of the census of 2000, there were 56,665 people, 18,888 households, and 13,353 families residing in the county. The population density was 114 people per square mile (44/km²). There were 20,061 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile (16/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.59% White, 1.31% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.87% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. 5.50% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.1% were of German, 14.7% Norwegian, 7.2% Irish and 5.3% Czech ancestry according to Census 2000. There were 18,888 households out