Birch Lake, Minnesota

Birch Lake is an unorganized territory in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States; located north of Babbitt, and south of Ely and Morse Township. The population was 648 at the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the unorganized territory has a total area of 70.4 square miles (182.3 km²); 57.8 square miles (149.7 km²) of it is land and 12.6 square miles (32.6 km²) of it (17.88%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 648 people, 236 households, and 175 families residing in the unorganized territory. The population density was 11.2 people per square mile (4.3/km²). There were 457 housing units at an average density of 7.9/sq mi (3.1/km²). The racial makeup of the unorganized territory was 98.77% White, 0.15% Asian, and 1.08% from two or more races.

There were 236 households out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.73.

In the unorganized territory the population was spread out with 17.1% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 31.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 51 years. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.

The median income for a household in the unorganized territory was $37,232, and the median income for a family was $40,938. Males had a median income of $47,917 versus $35,313 for females. The per capita income for the unorganized territory was $20,615. About 6.6% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.4% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.