Chisago County, MN

County Profile

57,991 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Chisago 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 50% of 1,225 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity914th of 1,255 counties43
SchoolsTop 35% of 973 counties63
Growth680th of 1,226 counties47
Housing affordabilityTop 47% of 1,255 counties94
Climate1226th of 1,254 counties50
Physical resilienceTop 35% of 1,255 counties71
Access811th of 1,255 counties74
Economic stabilityTop 9% of 1,255 counties90
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places Chisago County in the bottom 27%.

In the public schools here, 50% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 215 units authorized over the past twelve months, 38% below the prior year.

At a glance

Population
57,991
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$99,400
Top 5% nationally
Density
140/sq mi
414.9 sq mi of land
Median age
40.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Chisago County
Minnesota
Metro area
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Nearest major airport
MSP
46 mi · Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain
Median home value
$351,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 28% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 30,265 employed residents.

Household income is higher than at least 95% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,454$99,400Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,302$44,346Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate6.0%Bottom 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute33.2 minTop 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher24.4%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment30,265Bottom 40%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.8%Bottom 23%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.0%Bottom 20%June 2026
Labor force31,786Bottom 40%June 2026
Labor force participation66.1%Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.6%Top 23%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 28%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.02.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% 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
202120222023202499k91k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $99,400 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 — Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides93,560$38,860
Retail Salespersons51,180$36,670
General and Operations Managers44,890$103,570
Registered Nurses43,600$103,040
Customer Service Representatives38,630$49,480
Fast Food and Counter Workers37,920$33,040

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.

50% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 52% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.1 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
24
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
49.7%
Top 28% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
51.7%
Top 42% in Minnesota
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Chisago Lakes Senior HighChisago Lakes School District1,05315.3
Sunrise River Elementary SchoolNorth Branch Area Public Schools96017.853%57%
Lakeside El.Chisago Lakes School District80417.557%56%
North Branch Area High SchoolNorth Branch Area Public Schools79119.8
Chisago Lakes MiddleChisago Lakes School District74215.147%47%
North Branch Area Middle SchoolNorth Branch Area Public Schools61519.257%47%
Wyoming ElementaryForest Lake Public School District44718.661%54%
C.E. JACOBSON ELEMENTARYRUSH CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT4149.042%50%
RUSH CITY SECONDARYRUSH CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT39112.632%47%
Chisago Lakes El.Chisago Lakes School District34712.0
Taylors Falls ElementaryChisago Lakes School District32911.339%59%
North Branch Area Education CenterNorth Branch Area Public Schools23913.3

26.5% 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 $1,186 takes 14% 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
14.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,186
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$351,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.54Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate85.9%Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±9422,998Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$90$1,186Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,392$351,900Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income14.3%Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.1%Bottom 15%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
47/ 100
Ranks 680 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 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 4% since 2020, reaching 59,105 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 3.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
215
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.7
Top 41% nationally
Year over year
−38%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202459k57k
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
202020212022202320242025486189
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−13%).

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 1°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.8 inches, including 52.2 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 GRANTSBURG, 21.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation33.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall52.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing59°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

71 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Strong windElevated
HailElevated
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: wildfire, cold wave, lightning, landslide, winter weather, heat wave, ice storm, drought, 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.

Chisago County records 2.4 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 11.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.2 per 100,000 residents in Chisago County.

Homicide
2.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
11.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
18.8
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 Chisago 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 Chisago County rather than Chisago 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 46 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP46 mi11,006 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU82 mi8,101 ft
Duluth IntlDLH98 mi10,591 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

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 Chisago County, MN