Cloquet, Minnesota

Area Profile

12,537 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cloquet, in Carlton County.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 42% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity4,040th of 4,199 cities measured26
SchoolsTop 24% of 4,162 cities measured70
Growth3,007th of 4,224 cities measured40
Housing affordabilityTop 32% of 4,218 cities measured73
Climate4,206th of 4,225 cities measured47
Physical resilienceTop 14% of 4,226 cities measured87
Access2,934th of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stability2,695th of 4,226 cities measured50
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places Cloquet in the bottom 4%. The unemployment rate is published for Carlton County, MN, which contains Cloquet, rather than for Cloquet alone.

In the public schools here, 62% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.5 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.8 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
12,537
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,367
Bottom 42% nationally
Density
356/sq mi
35.2 sq mi of land
Median age
37.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Minnesota
Metro area
Nearest major airport
DLH
17 mi · Duluth Intl
Median home value
$212,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Carlton County, MN, which contains Cloquet, is 5.1% — higher than in all but 22% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Carlton County, MN, which contains Cloquet, fell 3.3% over the past year, to 16,160 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$4,5322024 ACS 5-Year$61,367Bottom 42%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,5902024 ACS 5-Year$38,223Top 37%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year15.5%Bottom 33%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.2 minTop 12%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year25.8%Top 38%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year77.6%51st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentCarlton County, MN’s figureJuly 202616,160Bottom 16%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Carlton County, MN’s figureJuly 2026−4.3%Bottom 6%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Carlton County, MN’s figureJuly 2026−3.3%Bottom 5%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceCarlton County, MN’s figureJuly 202617,02916th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year81.9%Top 36%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageDuluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,560Bottom 21%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageDuluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$50,000Bottom 43%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%78th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Carlton County, MN’s figureJuly 2026+0.6%Bottom 15%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateCarlton County, MN’s figureJuly 20265.1%Bottom 22%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%54th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202464k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,367 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Duluth, MN-WI

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides5,660$36,390
Registered Nurses4,410$96,940
Retail Salespersons3,490$34,650
Cashiers3,290$33,020
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,910$29,260
General and Operations Managers2,690$85,930

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Carlton County, MN, which contains this city.

62% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.5 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.5
across 6 of them
Math proficiency
61.7%
Top 29% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
67.4%
Top 22% in Minnesota
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cloquet SeniorCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT76122.457%67%
Cloquet MiddleCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT75217.153%66%
Washington ElementaryCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT49513.480%69%
Churchill ElementaryCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT35110.077%77%
Cloquet Early Childhood EducationCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT83———
Cloquet Area Alt. Ed. ProgramsCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT7412.35%30%
Northern Lights AcademyNorthern Lights Academy Cooperative147.0——
Caaep Extended Day ProgramCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT7———
Shared TimeCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT6———

42.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Minnesota’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 87.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area is up 49% over five years, and up 4.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,745 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.29% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,232, some 20% above the $1,024 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,232 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,300 a year, about 80% of the median household income here of $61,367.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,024 a month.

A median home at $212,700 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $77,192, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
87.2

Prices here run about 13% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,232
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,024
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$212,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Cloquet’s median household income of $61,367, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure202387.2Top 2%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.0%66th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+48.7%76th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+95.1%52nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 41%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year65.9%30th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2442024 ACS 5-Year5,66290th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$978Top 21%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,689Top 28%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,232Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$912024 ACS 5-Year$1,024Bottom 45%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,5242024 ACS 5-Year$212,70056th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2312024 ACS 5-Year$2,74570th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,9162024 ACS 5-Year$77,192Bottom 48%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.13%2024 ACS 5-Year1.29%68th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year30.0%Bottom 41%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±322024 ACS 5-Year3478th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%58th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%41st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1882024 ACS 5-Year33685th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

40/ 100
Ranks 3,007 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 12,475 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 8 units authorized in 2025, against 11 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 9 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
9
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.7
Bottom 20% nationally
Year over year
+50%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202413k12k
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. It has been falling for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025113.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+167%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 78°F and January a low of 2°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.2 inches, including 90.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 34, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

-10°10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DULUTH, 15.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year522024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals90.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals2°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals78°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year342024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals56°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
34
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
52
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

87 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, inland flooding and heat wave, with cold wave alone responsible for 52% of it. Cold wave and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 86% of measured US cities.

LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, winter weather, hail, wildfire, ice storm, tornado, strong wind, drought, landslide, coastal flooding, earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
153
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
353
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Cloquet's police department reported 153 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 353.

Carlton County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 12.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 12.9 per 100,000 residents in Carlton County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
19.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Cloquet’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Cloquet (Carlton County) rather than Cloquet itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Duluth Intl at 17 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year87.5%Bottom 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle17 miTop 47%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%Bottom 37%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Duluth IntlDLH17 mi10,591 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP132 mi11,006 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU137 mi8,101 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
57
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—

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Other cities in Duluth, MN-WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
DuluthSt. Louis County87,09357Duluth vs Cloquet
SuperiorDouglas County26,67757Superior vs Cloquet
HibbingSt. Louis County16,05754Hibbing vs Cloquet
HermantownSt. Louis County10,21862

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Cloquet side by side with a similar place.

Cloquet vs Fergus FallsCloquet vs Hibbing

Moving to Cloquet from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Cloquet

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Cloquet with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Cloquet closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5572017,448$64,167$223,200—