Hutchinson, Minnesota
Area Profile
14,680 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Hutchinson, in McLeod County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Hutchinson in the bottom 20%. The unemployment rate is published for McLeod County, MN, which contains Hutchinson, rather than for Hutchinson alone.
In the public schools here, 51% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.2 students for every teacher.
Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 236 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, against 20 the year before.
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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across McLeod County, MN, which contains Hutchinson, is 4.7% — higher than in all but 36% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across McLeod County, MN, which contains Hutchinson, fell 2.0% over the past year, to 19,093 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsMcLeod County, MN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $60,232 | 27th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftMcLeod County, MN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $56,816 | 18th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$6,1512024 ACS 5-Year | $72,836 | Top 42%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$5,5762024 ACS 5-Year | $44,845 | Top 24%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 12.7% | Bottom 42%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±2.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 20.7 min | Top 20%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 26.1% | Top 37%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 75.6% | 44th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentMcLeod County, MN’s figureJuly 2026 | 19,093 | Bottom 21%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)McLeod County, MN’s figureJuly 2026 | −1.3% | Bottom 35%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)McLeod County, MN’s figureJuly 2026 | −2.0% | Bottom 21%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceMcLeod County, MN’s figureJuly 2026 | 20,034 | 22nd percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 82.6% | Top 33%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.8% | 82nd percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)McLeod County, MN’s figureJuly 2026 | +0.4% | Bottom 23%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateMcLeod County, MN’s figureJuly 2026 | 4.7% | Bottom 36%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 9.6% | 59th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for McLeod County, MN, which contains this city.
51% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 61% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 8 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hutchinson Senior High | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 863 | 17.3 | 43% | 63% |
| Hutchinson Middle | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 535 | 15.3 | 73% | 72% |
| Hutchinson West Elementary | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 431 | 12.3 | — | — |
| Hutchinson Tiger Elementary | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 375 | 13.9 | — | — |
| Hutchinson Park Elementary | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 371 | 13.7 | 71% | 64% |
| New Discoveries Montessori Academy · charter | NEW DISCOVERIES MONTESSORI ACADEMY | 219 | 10.9 | 27% | 42% |
| New Century Academy · charter | New Century Academy | 95 | 8.6 | 17% | 42% |
| Hutchinson Middle School A.l.c. | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 73 | — | 5% | 25% |
| Crow River Area Learning Center | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 32 | — | — | — |
| Hutchinson Transition Assistance Pg | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 30 | 30.0 | — | — |
| Cornerstone | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 10 | — | — | — |
| Hutchinson Night Alt Learning Ctr | HUTCHINSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT | 2 | — | — | — |
35.3% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →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 $2,889 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.26% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $999, close to the $940 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $999 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $40,000 a year, about 55% of the median household income here of $72,836.
The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $940 a month.
A median home at $229,600 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $88,220, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
The figures above are measured against Hutchinson’s median household income of $72,836, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2 | +3.8% | 63rd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2 | +42.5% | 49th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2 | +88.5% | 44th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 2.6 | Bottom 46%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 68.6% | 35th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±2282024 ACS 5-Year | 6,778 | 91st percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $865 | Top 12%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,198 | Top 3%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $999 | Top 8%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year | $940 | Top 47%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$11,4702024 ACS 5-Year | $229,600 | 60th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1662024 ACS 5-Year | $2,889 | 71st percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$5,8022024 ACS 5-Year | $88,220 | Top 38%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.26% | 67th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 26.9% | Top 42%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±162024 ACS 5-Year | 0 | 1st percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.0% | 1st percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 4.3% | 34th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±1572024 ACS 5-Year | 291 | 83rd percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 14,708 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 104 units authorized in 2025, up 395% on the prior year.
88% of the 236 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 that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across McLeod County, which contains Hutchinson, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $60,232, above the $56,816 of households that moved out.
At 16.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Carver County, MN 203 people · 13% of arrivals
- Hennepin County, MN 164 people · 10% of arrivals
- Wright County, MN 145 people · 9.2% of arrivals
- Meeker County, MN 137 people · 8.6% of arrivals
- Sibley County, MN 73 people · 4.6% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Carver County, MN 195 people · 12% of departures
- Meeker County, MN 151 people · 9.5% of departures
- Hennepin County, MN 145 people · 9.1% of departures
- Wright County, MN 145 people · 9.1% of departures
- Sibley County, MN 73 people · 4.6% 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. This is the figure for McLeod County, MN. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 5°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 29.8 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 29.8" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 5°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 83°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 59°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
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 41% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave 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 86% of measured US cities.
Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, ice storm, inland flooding, drought, landslide, lightning, wildfire, earthquake, coastal flooding, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, hurricane.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Hutchinson's police department reported 149 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,038.
McLeod County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.1 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 7.8 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 9.0 per 100,000 residents in McLeod County.
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.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Hutchinson’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Hutchinson (McLeod County) rather than Hutchinson itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.
- Cost of living
- Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
- 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. 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
1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain at 57 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 88.3% | Bottom 44%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 57 mi | Bottom 9%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 1 | Bottom 1%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.1% | Bottom 47%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain | MSP | 57 mi | 11,006 ft |
| Rochester Intl | RST | 115 mi | 9,034 ft |
| Chippewa Valley Rgnl | EAU | 142 mi | 8,101 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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Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
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Moving to Hutchinson from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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 codes in Hutchinson
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in Hutchinson with census figures of its own, largest first.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55350 | 18,610 | $79,123 | $255,500 | 63 |