In 1952 the rural municipality Ransäter got the title of a market town (köping) and the name Munkfors after its only built-up locality.

With the local government reform of 1971 it became a municipality of unitary type without addition of territory.

A second notable Ransäter native was Tage Erlander (1901-1985), who was Prime Minister of Sweden 1946-1969.

The results of the Sweden Democrats were not published by SCB between 1988 and 1998 at a municipal level to the party's small nationwide size at the time.

Blocs This lists the relative strength of the socialist and centre-right blocs since 1973, but parties not elected to the Riksdag are inserted as "other", including the Sweden Democrats results from 1988 to 2006, but also the Christian Democrats pre-1991 and the Greens in 1982, 1985 and 1991.