Beltrami County, MN

County Profile

46,512 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Beltrami County, MN.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 1,225 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1130th of 1,255 counties32
Schools840th of 973 counties21
GrowthTop 43% of 1,226 counties54
Housing affordabilityTop 46% of 1,255 counties94
Climate1247th of 1,254 counties45
Physical resilienceTop 34% of 1,255 counties72
Access1231st of 1,255 counties8
Economic stability889th of 1,255 counties48
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 6.2% and the Opportunity signal places Beltrami County in the bottom 10%.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 216 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 38% on the prior year.

The nearest major airport is 108 miles away, which is farther than most measured US locations.

At a glance

Population
46,512
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$68,975
Top 39% nationally
Density
19/sq mi
2504.6 sq mi of land
Median age
35.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Beltrami County
Minnesota
Metro area
Bemidji, MN
Nearest major airport
FAR
108 mi · Hector Intl
Median home value
$237,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.2% is lower than 5% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 21,532 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 80% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,678$68,975Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,130$35,509Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.1%Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute21.9 minBottom 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher31.8%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment21,532Bottom 26%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.9%Bottom 15%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.0%Bottom 19%June 2026
Labor force22,965Bottom 27%June 2026
Labor force participation62.5%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 14%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.2%Top 5%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.32.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.2% 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.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202469k56k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $68,975 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.

36% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 39% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.1 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
38
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
36.1%
Bottom 11% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
39.0%
Bottom 8% in Minnesota
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Bemidji Senior HighBemidji Public School District1,53720.0
Bemidji MiddleBemidji Public School District96715.941%43%
Gene Dillon Elementary SchoolBemidji Public School District66714.842%57%
RED LAKE ELEMENTARYRED LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT52612.54%9%
BLACKDUCK ELEMENTARYBLACKDUCK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT41214.728%29%
RED LAKE SECONDARYRED LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT37718.9
Lincoln ElementaryBemidji Public School District32013.967%62%
Horace May ElementaryBemidji Public School District30012.047%32%
BLACKDUCK SECONDARYBLACKDUCK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT28414.225%45%
Northern ElementaryBemidji Public School District28214.867%42%
Red Lake Middle SchoolRED LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT26819.15%30%
J.W. Smith ElementaryBemidji Public School District23811.955%35%

53.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Minnesota’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,053 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,053
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$237,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.44Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.1%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7521,729Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$27$1,053Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,277$237,500Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.3%Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.4%Top 41%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
54/ 100
Top 43% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, measured from 2022 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 46,762 in 2024.

63% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 4.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
216
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.6
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
+38%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
63.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202447k46k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2022202320242025209165
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−12%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 77°F and January a low of -3°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 22.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 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 RED LAKE INDIAN AGCY, 0.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index55.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation22.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low-3°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high77°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10042024 calendar year
Median air quality index36.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing62°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
36
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
55
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

72 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado.

Winter weatherModerate
WildfireModerate
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
DroughtModerate
TornadoModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, hail, strong wind, lightning, ice storm, earthquake.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Beltrami County records 2.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.4 per 100,000 residents in Beltrami County.

Homicide
2.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
21.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Beltrami County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Beltrami County rather than Beltrami County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

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

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 108 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hector IntlFAR108 mi9,001 ft
Duluth IntlDLH150 mi10,591 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP224 mi11,006 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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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
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

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.

Cities in Beltrami County, MN