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.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 12% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,303rd of 1,463 counties measured31
Schools1,230th of 1,377 counties measured18
GrowthTop 43% of 1,453 counties measured54
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 1,462 counties measured78
Climate1,453rd of 1,463 counties measured45
Physical resilienceTop 32% of 1,463 counties measured72
Access1,434th of 1,463 counties measured8
Economic stability799th of 1,463 counties measured57
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 6.0% and the Opportunity signal places Beltrami County in the bottom 11%.

In the public schools here, 44% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.2 students for every teacher.

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

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
46,512
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$68,975
Top 39% nationally
Density
19/sq mi
2,504.6 sq mi of land
Median age
35.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Beltrami County
Minnesota
Micro area
Nearest major airport
FAR
108 mi · Hector Intl
Median home value
$237,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.0% — higher than in all but 6% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 2.4% over the past year, to 21,503 employed residents.

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

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$58,77650th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$56,53046th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,6782024 ACS 5-Year$68,975Top 39%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1302024 ACS 5-Year$35,509Top 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$53,389Bottom 39%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.9%Bottom 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.9 minTop 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year31.8%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.8%45th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202621,503Bottom 34%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−3.3%Bottom 14%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.4%Bottom 15%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202622,88135th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.7%Top 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%88th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.8%Bottom 7%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.0%Bottom 6%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%42nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.02.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.0% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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.

44% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 48% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 27 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
38
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across 27 of them
Math proficiency
44.2%
Bottom 7% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
47.9%
Bottom 7% in Minnesota
The 12 largest of 38 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Bemidji Senior HighBemidji Public School District1,53720.053%55%
Bemidji MiddleBemidji Public School District96715.954%61%
Gene Dillon Elementary SchoolBemidji Public School District66714.845%51%
Red Lake ElementaryRED LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT52612.524%23%
Blackduck ElementaryBLACKDUCK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT41214.752%47%
Red Lake SecondaryRED LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT37718.95%27%
Lincoln ElementaryBemidji Public School District32013.962%52%
Horace May ElementaryBemidji Public School District30012.062%57%
Blackduck SecondaryBLACKDUCK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT28414.237%47%
Northern ElementaryBemidji Public School District28214.872%62%
Red Lake Middle SchoolRED LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT26819.19%31%
J.W. Smith ElementaryBemidji Public School District23811.955%45%

53.8% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota is up 43% over five years, and up 3.8% 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 $2,309 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.97% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,135, some 8% above the $1,053 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,135 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $45,400 a year, about 66% of the median household income here of $68,975.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,053 a month.

A median home at $237,500 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $84,952, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
27.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,135
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,053
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$237,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Beltrami County’s median household income of $68,975, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%57th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2+42.5%37th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2+88.5%39th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 36%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.1%29th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±752024 ACS 5-Year21,72967th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$876Top 38%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,361Top 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,135Top 45%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$272024 ACS 5-Year$1,053Bottom 26%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,2772024 ACS 5-Year$237,50068th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$742024 ACS 5-Year$2,30972nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,5572024 ACS 5-Year$84,952Top 33%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.97%63rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.6%Top 48%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2152024 ACS 5-Year2,47887th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year11.4%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%16th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2752024 ACS 5-Year3,55771st percentileof 3,2222024 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.

Development Momentum

54/ 100
Top 43% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, 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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 46,762 in 2024.

63% of the 216 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Beltrami County lost about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $58,776, close to the $56,530 of households that moved out.

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

Units permitted
216
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.6
Top 31% 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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$58,776
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$56,530
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hubbard County, MN 178 people · 10% of arrivals
  2. Cass County, MN 111 people · 6.5% of arrivals
  3. Clearwater County, MN 107 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Hennepin County, MN 66 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  5. Polk County, MN 51 people · 3.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Hubbard County, MN 196 people · 11% of departures
  2. Cass County, MN 137 people · 7.6% of departures
  3. Hennepin County, MN 109 people · 6.1% of departures
  4. Clearwater County, MN 98 people · 5.5% of departures
  5. St. Louis County, MN 67 people · 3.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

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 index2024 calendar year552024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals22.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals-3°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals77°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year362024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals62°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. 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

72 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 67% of it.

Winter weatherModerate
WildfireModerate
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
DroughtModerate
TornadoModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, hail, strong wind, lightning, ice storm, earthquake, avalanche, coastal flooding, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Beltrami County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 11.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

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

Homicide
2.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
21.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.5
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.

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 Beltrami County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

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

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year91.8%Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle108 miBottom 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
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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Area Score
47
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.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
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.

Cities in Beltrami County, MN

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.