St. Louis County, MN

County Profile

200,123 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for St. Louis 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.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 36% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,284th of 1,463 counties measured33
Schools735th of 1,377 counties measured48
Growth944th of 1,453 counties measured42
Housing affordability942nd of 1,462 counties measured70
Climate1,460th of 1,463 counties measured41
Physical resilienceTop 3% of 1,463 counties measured94
Access1,176th of 1,463 counties measured63
Economic stabilityTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured69
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.2% and the Opportunity signal places St. Louis County in the bottom 12%.

In the public schools here, 52% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.9 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 31% of renter income here, above 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
200,123
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$70,069
Top 37% nationally
Density
32/sq mi
6,248.1 sq mi of land
Median age
41.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
St. Louis County
Minnesota
Metro area
Nearest major airport
DLH
53 mi · Duluth Intl
Median home value
$221,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.2% — higher than in all but 17% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 3.3% over the past year, to 92,865 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 83% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$59,12451st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$59,32155th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,4942024 ACS 5-Year$70,069Top 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0412024 ACS 5-Year$41,302Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$58,794Top 41%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year10.9%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.2 minTop 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year33.6%Top 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year74.1%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202692,865Top 24%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.2%Bottom 10%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.3%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202698,00276th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year1.8%93rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.3%Bottom 24%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.2%Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year11.2%71st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.92.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.2% 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

202120222023202470k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $70,069 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.

52% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 62% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.9 students for every full-time teacher across 70 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
81
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.9
across 70 of them
Math proficiency
52.1%
Bottom 34% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
62.2%
Top 34% in Minnesota
The 12 largest of 81 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
East High SchoolDULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT1,49520.546%75%
Rock Ridge High SchoolRock Ridge Public Schools1,04819.1——
Ordean East Middle SchoolDULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT1,03718.564%70%
Denfeld High SchoolDULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT95116.127%48%
Hibbing HighHibbing Public School District82919.349%68%
Hermantown ElementaryHermantown Community Schools73116.277%68%
Hermantown MiddleHermantown Community Schools67716.568%72%
Hermantown Senior HighHermantown Community Schools65521.162%77%
Lincoln Middle SchoolHibbing Public School District64718.562%66%
Lincoln Park Middle SchoolDULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT60612.434%43%
North Star Academy · charterDULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACADEMY57210.654%56%
Proctor Senior HighProctor Public School District54015.942%67%

39.2% 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 $2,271 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.03% 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 $1,013 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 70% of the median household income here of $70,069.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,013 a month.

A median home at $221,400 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $86,242, 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
31.2%
Above 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
$1,013
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$221,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against St. Louis County’s median household income of $70,069, 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 47%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year71.2%34th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1162024 ACS 5-Year104,26391st 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 ±$362024 ACS 5-Year$1,013Bottom 30%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,4112024 ACS 5-Year$221,40063rd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$462024 ACS 5-Year$2,27171st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,5852024 ACS 5-Year$86,242Top 30%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year1.03%67th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year31.2%Bottom 19%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4432024 ACS 5-Year10,92998th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year10.5%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.0%24th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6222024 ACS 5-Year17,14895th 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

42/ 100
Ranks 944 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 200,794 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 419 units authorized in 2025, 34% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across St. Louis County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,124, close to the $59,321 of households that moved out.

At 2.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
544
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.7
Bottom 48% nationally
Year over year
+27%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
51.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024201k200k
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
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
48%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,124
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,321
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hennepin County, MN 482 people · 7.3% of arrivals
  2. Douglas County, WI 474 people · 7.2% of arrivals
  3. Carlton County, MN 461 people · 7.0% of arrivals
  4. Itasca County, MN 276 people · 4.2% of arrivals
  5. Lake County, MN 212 people · 3.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Carlton County, MN 640 people · 9.7% of departures
  2. Hennepin County, MN 596 people · 9.1% of departures
  3. Douglas County, WI 580 people · 8.8% of departures
  4. Ramsey County, MN 288 people · 4.4% of departures
  5. Itasca County, MN 284 people · 4.3% 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

2022202320242025639419
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−13%).

Weather & climate

3 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 -4°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 24.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 39, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

-20°0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HIBBING CHISHOLM HIBBING AP, 20.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year572024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals24.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals-4°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals77°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals31991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year32024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year392024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals57°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
39
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
57
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
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

94 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, inland flooding and lightning, with cold wave alone responsible for 45% of it. Cold wave and lightning 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 97% of measured US counties.

Winter weatherModerate
Inland floodingModerate

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

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.

St. Louis County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.6 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 17.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 15.5 per 100,000 residents in St. Louis County.

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
15.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
18.0
per 100,000 residents

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 St. Louis 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 53 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year88.6%Top 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle53 miBottom 27%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year8.1%Top 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Duluth IntlDLH53 mi10,591 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP189 mi11,006 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU194 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
55
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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.

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.