Polk County, MN

What LandBenchmark can tell you about a parcel in Polk County — and, just as importantly, what it can't.

Land area
1,971
sq mi
Water area
26.8
sq mi
County FIPS
27119
Center
47.774, -96.400

Area and center from the US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer.

Measured terrain around the Polk County centroid

Centroid elevation
300
m (984 ft)
Terrain relief
46
m spread (p95−p5, ~20–40 km window)

The county center sits at about 300 m above sea level. Elevation across the sampled window spreads 46 m — gently rolling terrain by our banding (flat <30 m · gently rolling 30–100 m · hilly 100–300 m · mountainous >300 m). These are county-scale context, not parcel measurements — a specific parcel gets its own slope, flood and usable-acreage readings when analyzed.

Elevation measured 2026-07-21 from the AWS Terrain Tiles (terrarium encoding, z10).

Data available for Polk County

  • Owner of record, parcel number, assessed value and the county's parcel boundaryMinnesota publishes these as open data (Minnesota Geospatial Commons — Open Parcels). LandBenchmark reads them directly.
  • Legal description — township, range and section from the BLM Public Land Survey System.
  • FEMA flood zones, wetlands, soil survey and NCCPI soil productivity — the federal layers, all free and all available here.
  • 56 measured signals from satellite imagery and public records — slope and usable acreage, observed surface water, vegetation trend, wildfire and seismic hazard, access and neighboring land use. Each one cites its method, its source, and the date it was observed.

LandBenchmark has no listings and does not know what is for sale in Polk County. It analyses a parcel you point it at. It is an automated Phase-1 desk screen, not a survey, a flood determination, or a substitute for on-site inspection.

Common questions about land in Polk County

Can I see who owns a parcel in Polk County?

Yes — Minnesota publishes parcel ownership as open data (Minnesota Geospatial Commons — Open Parcels), so a LandBenchmark report on a Polk County parcel shows the owner of record, parcel number and assessed value, cited to the state dataset.

How hilly is Polk County?

Around the county center, measured elevation spreads 46 m across a ~20–40 km window — gently rolling terrain by our banding. Individual parcels vary: a report measures the actual slope and usable acreage of the parcel you point it at.

What can LandBenchmark measure for a parcel in Polk County?

56 measured signals, each cited with source and observation date: FEMA flood zone plus surface water observed in multi-year imagery, USFWS wetlands, USDA soil survey and productivity, slope and usable acreage, wildfire and seismic hazard, access and surroundings. What a satellite cannot verify — title, zoning, perc results, water rights — goes on a human-verify checklist naming the Polk County offices that can.

Nearest neighboring counties