Carlton County, MN

County Profile

36,518 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Carlton 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.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 39% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,256th of 1,463 counties measured35
SchoolsTop 12% of 1,377 counties measured80
GrowthTop 37% of 1,453 counties measured58
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 1,462 counties measured76
Climate1,444th of 1,463 counties measured47
Physical resilienceTop 16% of 1,463 counties measured83
Access801st of 1,463 counties measured79
Economic stabilityTop 49% of 1,463 counties measured61
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places Carlton County in the bottom 14%.

Public schools test above most of the state: 62% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 12% of published profiles for schools.

Rent takes 29% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.6 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
36,518
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,573
Top 17% nationally
Density
42/sq mi
861.2 sq mi of land
Median age
41.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Carlton County
Minnesota
Metro area
Nearest major airport
DLH
28 mi · Duluth Intl
Median home value
$245,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% — higher than in all but 19% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 3.3% over the past year, to 16,160 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$62,76660th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$51,07227th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,0492024 ACS 5-Year$80,573Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8782024 ACS 5-Year$39,410Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$52,550Bottom 35%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.0 minTop 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.5%Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.7%58th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202616,160Bottom 23%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.3%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.3%Bottom 7%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202617,02923rd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.0%Bottom 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%47th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Bottom 13%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.1%Bottom 19%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.5%58th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.12.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.1% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, 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

202120222023202481k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,573 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.

62% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 68% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.0 students for every full-time teacher across 19 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
23
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.0
across 19 of them
Math proficiency
61.9%
Top 15% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
67.5%
Top 7% in Minnesota
The 12 largest of 23 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cloquet SeniorCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT76122.457%67%
Cloquet MiddleCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT75217.153%66%
Winterquist ElementaryESKO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT68416.381%81%
Lincoln SecondaryESKO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT60318.868%80%
Washington ElementaryCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT49513.480%69%
Churchill ElementaryCLOQUET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT35110.077%77%
Barnum ElementaryBARNUM PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT34813.971%74%
Barnum SecondaryBARNUM PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT31216.452%67%
Moose Lake ElementaryMOOSE LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT28512.455%53%
Moose Lake SecondaryMOOSE LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT27614.557%57%
Wrenshall ElementaryWRENSHALL PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT18714.442%57%
South Terrace ElementaryCARLTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT16311.667%57%

33.3% 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 $2,862 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.17% 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 22% above the $1,009 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 61% of the median household income here of $80,573.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,009 a month.

A median home at $245,100 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $92,728, 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
28.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,232
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,009
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$245,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Carlton County’s median household income of $80,573, 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 4%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.0%61st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+48.7%66th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+95.1%50th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 43%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.0%80th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±622024 ACS 5-Year15,89657th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$978Bottom 48%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,689Bottom 38%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,232Bottom 44%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$612024 ACS 5-Year$1,009Bottom 30%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,5362024 ACS 5-Year$245,10071st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1172024 ACS 5-Year$2,86283rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,3482024 ACS 5-Year$92,728Top 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.17%76th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.5%Bottom 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1042024 ACS 5-Year1,01875th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%71st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%15th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2222024 ACS 5-Year1,80651st 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

58/ 100
Top 37% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 years of 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 2% since 2020, reaching 36,745 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

Federal tax returns show Carlton County gained about 0.3% 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 $62,766, above the $51,072 of households that moved out.

At 4.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
146
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.0
Top 37% nationally
Year over year
+30%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
28.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202437k36k
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
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
24%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$62,766
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$51,072
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. St. Louis County, MN 640 people · 46% of arrivals
  2. Douglas County, WI 79 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  3. Pine County, MN 70 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. Hennepin County, MN 65 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  5. Ramsey County, MN 31 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. St. Louis County, MN 461 people · 35% of departures
  2. Pine County, MN 93 people · 7.0% of departures
  3. Douglas County, WI 83 people · 6.3% of departures
  4. Hennepin County, MN 58 people · 4.4% of departures
  5. Ramsey County, MN 45 people · 3.4% 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

202220232024202514976
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+96%).

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, 27.1 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

83 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, inland flooding and tornado, with cold wave alone responsible for 56% of it. Cold wave and tornado 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 84% of measured US counties.

LightningModerate
Inland floodingElevated

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

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.

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.

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 Carlton 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.
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 28 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.0%Top 42%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle28 miTop 39%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%Top 43%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Duluth IntlDLH28 mi10,591 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP122 mi11,006 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU133 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
62
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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
Housing, 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 Carlton County, MN