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Baxter is located just north of the
geographical center of Minnesota, in a terminal
moraine area created by the
Superior Lobe of the
Labradorian ice sheet. The city is home to numerous
lakes and ponds.
Baxter is
bordered on the west by
Cass County and on the east by
Brainerd. The
Mississippi River marks the current southern border
but expansion both north and south is possible.
Along with the rest of Crow Wing
County and parts of the adjoining counties, Baxter is
part of the so-called Brainerd Lakes Area. Many
residents of Baxter work in Brainerd or consider
themselves Brainerd residents.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total
area of 50.9
km˛ (19.7
mi˛). 44.9 km˛ (17.3 mi˛) of it is land and 6.1 km˛
(2.3 mi˛) of it (11.95%) is water.
As of the
census2
of 2000, there were 5,555 people, 1,921
households, and 1,586 families residing
in the city. The
population density was 123.8/km˛
(320.7/mi˛). There were 1,979 housing
units at an average density of 44.1/km˛
(114.3/mi˛). The racial makeup of the
city was 98.63%
White, 0.02%
African American, 0.22%
Native American, 0.41%
Asian, 0.09% from
other races, and 0.63% from two or
more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 0.61% of the
population.
There were 1,921 households out of which
45.1% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 72.4% were
married couples living together,
8.0% had a female householder with no
husband present, and 17.4% were
non-families. 14.2% of all households
were made up of individuals and 6.1% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of
age or older. The average household size
was 2.87 and the average family size was
3.17.
In the city the
population was spread out with 31.7%
under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24,
28.6% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to
64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age
or older. The median age was 36 years.
For every 100 females there were 95.9
males. For every 100 females age 18 and
over, there were 90.7 males.
The median income for
a household in the city was $52,289, and
the median income for a family was
$55,838. Males had a median income of
$38,375 versus $26,667 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$19,772. About 2.3% of families and 5.0%
of the population were below the
poverty line, including 5.9% of
those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age
65 or over.
A
suburb of nearby
Brainerd, Baxter owes its existence to the
Northern Pacific Railroad, which operated a large
tie-treating plant, since closed, in the area during
the 1920s. Farming was also an important early industry.
Tourism and
various
service industries have become Baxter's biggest
employers, and numerous
housing subdivisions have been developed in the
wooded area west of Highway 371, which passes through
the town. Owing to the amount of unused land in the
area, commercial development along the
highway itself has also increased in recent years,
though it has tended to conform to the pattern of
urban sprawl.
