Pennington County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,992.^[1] Its county seat is Thief River Falls.^[2]

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Pennington County
County
Old Carnegie Library, downtown Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 48°04′N 96°02′W
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	November 23, 1910
Named for	Edmund Pennington
Seat	Thief River Falls
Largest city	Thief River Falls
Area
• Total	618 sq mi (1,600 km2)
• Land	617 sq mi (1,600 km2)
• Water	1.7 sq mi (4 km2)  0.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	13,992
• Estimate  (2023)	13,714
• Density	22.7/sq mi (8.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	7th
Website	co.pennington.mn.us

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The Wisconsin Territory was established by the federal government effective July 3, 1836, and existed until its eastern portion was granted statehood (as Wisconsin) in 1848. The federal government set up the Minnesota Territory in the remaining territory, effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. One of those original counties, Pembina, had its lower portion partitioned in 1858 by the newly organized Minnesota State legislature to create Polk County. On December 24, 1896, the legislature partitioned the northern portion of Polk to create Red Lake County. Then on November 23, 1910,^[3] the northern part of Red Lake was sectioned off to create Pennington County, the penultimate Minnesota county to be created (followed by Lake of the Woods in 1922). The county was named for Edmund Pennington (1848-1926), a longtime Minnesota railroad executive, who was serving as president of the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railway when the county was formed. Thief River Falls, the area's major settlement (platted in 1887), was specified as the county seat.^[4]

The Red Lake River flows westward into the county from Beltrami County through Pennington's central portion. Near Thief River Falls it is joined by the Thief River, flowing southward into the county from Marshall County. The combined flow exits Pennington County toward the south, then swings west- and northwestward as it moves to its confluence with the Red River near Grand Forks, North Dakota. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, lightly wooded, with all available areas devoted to agriculture.^[6] The terrain slopes to the west and south,^[7] with its highest point near the lower east border, at 1,186 ft (361 m) ASL.^[8] The county has a total area of 618 square miles (1,600 km²), of which 617 square miles (1,600 km²) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) (0.3%) is water.^[9] Pennington is one of 17 Minnesota savanna region counties with more savanna soils than either prairie or forest soils.

In the first five elections after its founding, Pennington County had mixed results in presidential elections, voting for four different parties at least once in that span. From 1932 to 1996, the county voted Democratic, typically by moderately healthy margins, in every election save for three nationwide Republican landslides, Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in both 1980 and 1984. Beginning in 2000, Pennington County has favored Republicans in five of the six elections, with the exception being Barack Obama winning the county in 2008 by a fairly small margin of about 2%.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Pennington County, Minnesota