Benton County's Largest Employers
The regional economy is fairly diverse and includes paper manufacturing, granite mining and processing, production of window sashes, doors and cabinets, poultry processing, optical lens production, dairy products, and farm machinery sales and servicing. Because the area is steadily growing, the local construction industry is kept very busy.
Table 1 - Benton County's Largest Employers
| Firm | Product/Service | Employees |
| Knife River | Highway and Bridge Construction | 721 |
| Verso Paper | Paper Mill | 540 |
| Quebecor | Printing | 540 |
| Woodcraft | Hardwood Manufacturer | 498 |
| Sauk Rapids-Rice Schools - ISD #47 | Schools | 485 |
| Country Manor Health Care | Nursing Homes | 462 |
| Stearns Manufacturing | Recreational Goods | 331 |
| Array Services Group | Business Services | 250 |
| Benton, County of | Government | 235 |
| Foley Schools - ISD #51 | Schools | 225 |
Source: MN Dept. of Trade & Economic Development Community Profiles (mnpro.com)
Benton County Economic Sectors
Information on the number of businesses in Benton County by major economic sector, along with employment figures and their respective annual payrolls is given in Table 2 In terms of employment and payroll, manufacturing is the largest sector of the Benton County economy with retail trade coming in second.
Table 2 - Benton County Economic Sectors
| Sector | Number | Employees | Payroll | Share of the Market |
| Ag Serv/For/Fish | N/D | N/D | N/D | 3.24% |
| Construction | 141 | 893 | $29,118,594 | 12.65% |
| FIRE | 60 | 283 | $5,208,601 | 2.43% |
| Government | 41 | 1,267 | $31,815,673 | 9.95% |
| Manufacturing | 62 | 3,405 | $97,394,394 | 30.33% |
| Retail Trade | 172 | 2,797 | $42,166,120 | 12.68% |
| Services | 193 | 2,446 | $40,790,065 | 16.20% |
| Trans/Pub. Utilities | 49 | 298 | $6,641,248 | 3.87% |
| Wholesale Trade | 62 | 846 | $23,107,760 | 8.66% |
Source: University of Minnesota Extension Service Benton County Profile of Business and Labor 2000 ND=No Data
Benton County Firms by Employment
An overwhelming number of the firms in Benton County are small, with the majority of them under 50 employees. On the other hand, 22 firms employ 100 or more employees, an increase from the previous year.
Table 3 - Benton County Firms by Employment
| Number of Employees | Businesses | Percent |
| 1 to 4 | 384 | 50.1% |
| 5 to 9 | 145 | 18.9% |
| 10 to 19 | 114 | 14.8% |
| 20 to 49 | 83 | 10.8% |
| 50 to 99 | 23 | 3% |
| 100 to 249 | 13 | 1.6% |
| 250 to 499 | 4 | 0% |
| 500 to 999 | 0 | 0% |
| 1000+ | 0 | 0 |
Source: County Business Patterns, 2001
One major farm product dominates Benton County's agricultural sector, milk from dairy operation. Additional income is earned from sales of beef cattle and hogs. As Figure 1 illustrates, the relative importance of the various livestock types has remained fairly constant over the past 20 years.
Figure 1 - Benton County Livestock Inventories
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Agriculture, Charted by Dan Martens, Benton County Extension Technical Advisor, 2004
Table 4 - Benton County Agricultural Statistics
| Category | Benton County | Minnesota |
| Total Area (acres) | 261,297 | 50,744,960 |
| Number of Farms | 965 | 80,839 |
| Farm Land (Acres) | 195,949 | 27,512,270 |
| Average Farm Size | 203 | 340 |
| % Over 500 Acres | 8.29% | 19.0% |
| % Less than 50 Acres | 27.3% | 24.9% |
| Cash Receipts | $89,610,000 | $8,290,264,000 |
| Average Prod. Value Farm | $107,446 | $112,997 |
| Average Prod. Value/Acre | $508 | $112,997 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Agriculture, Charted by Dan Martens, Benton County Extension Technical Advisor, 2002
