Nicollet County, MN

County Profile

34,411 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Nicollet 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.

71out of 100
Area Score
Top 11% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 8% of 1,463 counties measured80
SchoolsTop 23% of 1,377 counties measured71
GrowthTop 26% of 1,453 counties measured63
Housing affordabilityTop 16% of 1,462 counties measured82
Climate1,397th of 1,463 counties measured51
Physical resilienceTop 31% of 1,463 counties measured73
Access1,203rd of 1,463 counties measured61
Economic stabilityTop 8% of 1,463 counties measured90
The quick read

Nicollet County ranks in the top 8% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.5% and median household income of $79,756.

In the public schools here, 62% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.8 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 146 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 43% on the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
34,411
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,756
Top 18% nationally
Density
77/sq mi
448.5 sq mi of land
Median age
38.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Nicollet County
Minnesota
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MSP
62 mi · Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain
Median home value
$270,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5%, lower than in 74% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.4% over the past year, to 19,271 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$56,17943rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$55,53242nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,2512024 ACS 5-Year$79,756Top 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,0522024 ACS 5-Year$44,053Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$61,282Top 34%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.9%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year17.7 minTop 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.1%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year70.2%15th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202619,271Bottom 30%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.5%Top 22%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.4%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,97730th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year84.2%Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%59th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 33%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.3%81st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.31.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% 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

202120222023202480k74k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,756 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 — Mankato, MN

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,170$37,560
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,860$30,000
Retail Salespersons1,780$35,350
Registered Nurses1,570$103,400
General and Operations Managers1,180$86,890
Cashiers1,140$33,530

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 64% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.8 students for every full-time teacher across 14 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
23
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.8
across 14 of them
Math proficiency
61.9%
Top 17% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
64.0%
Top 22% in Minnesota
The 12 largest of 23 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Dakota Meadows Middle SchoolMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT85219.460%69%
St. Peter High SchoolST. PETER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT69219.252%62%
St. Peter Middle SchoolST. PETER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT61718.756%59%
Hoover ElementaryMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT46115.974%69%
North Elementary SchoolST. PETER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT42915.971%59%
Monroe ElementaryMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT36713.664%60%
South Elementary SchoolST. PETER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT26913.4——
Bridges Community ElementaryMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT25116.787%87%
Nicollet Elementary SchoolNICOLLET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT15614.265%65%
Nicollet High SchoolNICOLLET PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT15111.650%55%
St. Peter EcseST. PETER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT615.5——
Futures ProgramMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT332.810%10%

33.8% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 12% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 87.6, 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 Mankato, MN Metro Area is up 31% over five years, and up 1.2% 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 $3,046 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.13% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,171, some 21% above the $970 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,171 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $46,800 a year, about 59% of the median household income here of $79,756.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $970 a month.

A median home at $270,300 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $102,658, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
87.6

Prices here run about 12% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Mankato, MN 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
26.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,171
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$970
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$270,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Nicollet County’s median household income of $79,756, 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 Mankato, MN Metro Area’s figure202387.6Top 7%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Mankato, MN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.2%14th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Mankato, MN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+30.8%10th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Mankato, MN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+70.3%16th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 43%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year72.2%38th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±632024 ACS 5-Year13,59653rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$977Bottom 48%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,629Bottom 43%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,171Top 49%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$262024 ACS 5-Year$970Bottom 34%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,8262024 ACS 5-Year$270,30076th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1202024 ACS 5-Year$3,04685th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,6762024 ACS 5-Year$102,658Top 12%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.13%73rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year26.0%Top 33%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±252024 ACS 5-Year438th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%6th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.1%8th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1582024 ACS 5-Year59416th 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

63/ 100
Top 26% of 1,453 published county 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 34,493 in 2024.

62% of the 146 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 Nicollet County lost 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 $56,179, close to the $55,532 of households that moved out.

At 4.2 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
4.2
Top 34% nationally
Year over year
+43%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
61.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202434k34k
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 rising, 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
19%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$56,179
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$55,532
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Blue Earth County, MN 794 people · 40% of arrivals
  2. Le Sueur County, MN 117 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  3. Brown County, MN 103 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  4. Hennepin County, MN 92 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  5. Dakota County, MN 49 people · 2.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Blue Earth County, MN 642 people · 31% of departures
  2. Hennepin County, MN 182 people · 8.7% of departures
  3. Le Sueur County, MN 132 people · 6.3% of departures
  4. Brown County, MN 92 people · 4.4% of departures
  5. Cottonwood County, MN 69 people · 3.3% 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

202220232024202519985
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−57%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 4°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 32.8 inches.

-10°10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW ULM 3SE, 9.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals32.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals4°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals58°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

73 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 47% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Strong windHigh
Winter weatherModerate
HailModerate
TornadoHigh
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, drought, landslide, ice storm, wildfire, 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.

Nicollet 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 8.3 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 8.8 per 100,000 residents in Nicollet County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
11.8
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 Nicollet 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain at 62 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.6%Top 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle62 miBottom 19%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%Top 35%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP62 mi11,006 ft
Rochester IntlRST92 mi9,034 ft
Joe Foss FldFSD135 mi9,000 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
71
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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
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.