Mankato, MN

Metro Area Profile

104,282 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Mankato, MN metropolitan area.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 30% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity203rd of 379 published metros54
GrowthTop 17% of 821 published metros71
Housing affordability430th of 822 published metros94
Climate773rd of 822 published metros53
Physical resilienceTop 13% of 822 published metros82
Access662nd of 822 published metros58
Economic stabilityTop 18% of 822 published metros77
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.4% and median household income $75,808, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published metro profiles.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 669 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 113% on the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing Mankato in the top 13% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
104,282
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,808
Top 25% nationally
Density
87/sq mi
1196.3 sq mi of land
Median age
34.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Mankato, MN
Nearest major airport
MSP
68 mi · Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain
Median home value
$268,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% is lower than 41% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 0.9% over the past year, to 57,853 employed residents.

35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 80% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,752$75,808Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,687$39,431Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.2%Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute18.1 minBottom 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher34.8%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment57,853Bottom 17%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.4%Bottom 40%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.9%Bottom 43%June 2026
Labor force60,509Bottom 17%June 2026
Labor force participation69.0%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$62,430Top 39%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,530Top 31%2025 OEWS
Metro employment56,180Bottom 23%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.6%Top 17%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.4%Top 41%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.41.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Mankato, MN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,170$37,560
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,860$30,000
Retail Salespersons1,780$35,350
Registered Nurses1,570$103,400
General and Operations Managers1,180$86,890
Cashiers1,140$33,530

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,069 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.5 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
16.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,069
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$268,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.54Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate64.8%Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±10943,460Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$40$1,069Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,414$268,100Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.9%Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.6%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
71/ 100
Top 17% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 105,193 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 6.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
669
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.4
Top 17% nationally
Year over year
+113%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
58.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024105k104k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 6°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.9 inches, including 38.7 inches of snow.

-10°10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MANKATO, 6.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation33.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall38.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low6°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing57°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

82 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, strong wind and hail.

Strong windHigh
Winter weatherModerate
HailModerate
TornadoHigh
Heat waveModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, drought, landslide, inland flooding, ice storm, wildfire, earthquake.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 68 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP68 mi11,006 ft
Rochester IntlRST84 mi9,034 ft
Joe Foss FldFSD135 mi9,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.