Mendota Heights, Minnesota

Area Profile

11,612 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Mendota Heights, in Dakota County.

68out of 100
Area Score
Top 19% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,230th of 4,199 cities measured55
SchoolsTop 40% of 4,162 cities measured57
GrowthTop 17% of 4,224 cities measured68
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 4,218 cities measured74
Climate3,993rd of 4,225 cities measured55
Physical resilienceTop 14% of 4,226 cities measured88
AccessTop 31% of 4,226 cities measured97
Economic stabilityTop 2% of 4,226 cities measured83
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.4% and median household income $132,768, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Dakota County, MN, which contains Mendota Heights, rather than for Mendota Heights alone.

In the public schools here, 59% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.9 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Dakota County, MN, which contains Mendota Heights, rather than for Mendota Heights alone.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 150 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, against 5 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

Population
11,612
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$132,768
Top 7% nationally
Density
1,280/sq mi
9.1 sq mi of land
Median age
47.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Minnesota
Nearest major airport
MSP
4 mi · Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain
Median home value
$520,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Dakota County, MN, which contains Mendota Heights, is 4.4% — higher than in all but 47% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Dakota County, MN, which contains Mendota Heights, fell 2.0% over the past year, to 240,847 employed residents.

67% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 96% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $132,768 is higher than in 93% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsDakota County, MN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$75,74555th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftDakota County, MN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$74,83756th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$14,6872024 ACS 5-Year$132,768Top 7%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,3932024 ACS 5-Year$72,329Top 6%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year2.9%Top 15%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.2 minTop 22%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year67.5%Top 4%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year65.5%19th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentDakota County, MN’s figureJuly 2026240,847Top 30%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Dakota County, MN’s figureJuly 2026−2.0%Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Dakota County, MN’s figureJuly 2026−2.0%Bottom 21%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceDakota County, MN’s figureJuly 2026251,97870th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year86.4%Top 19%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$74,580Top 30%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageMinneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$59,320Top 23%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%78th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Dakota County, MN’s figureJuly 2026+0.6%Bottom 12%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateDakota County, MN’s figureJuly 20264.4%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year30.3%95th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024133k124k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $132,768 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

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Dakota County, MN, which contains this city.

59% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 62% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Dakota County, MN, which contains Mendota Heights, rather than for Mendota Heights alone.

There are 15.9 students for every full-time teacher across 1 public school, more than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Dakota County, MN, which contains Mendota Heights, rather than for Mendota Heights alone.

Public schools
1
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.9
across all schools here
Math proficiency
58.9%
Top 37% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
62.3%
Top 45% in Minnesota

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Dakota County, MN: too few schools in Mendota Heights reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly. The schools listed below are this place’s own.

The one public school on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Friendly Hills MiddleWest St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan78517.455%63%

41.1% 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 4% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 104.3, 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area is up 27% over five years, and up 2.6% 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 $4,491 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.86% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,709, close to the $1,631 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,709 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $68,400 a year, about 52% of the median household income here of $132,768.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,631 a month.

A median home at $520,300 costs 3.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $155,368, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
104.3

Prices here run about 4% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, 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
27.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,709
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,631
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$520,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Mendota Heights’s median household income of $132,768, 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2023104.3Bottom 36%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.6%39th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+27.3%10th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+72.6%17th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.3Bottom 27%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year78.7%56th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2102024 ACS 5-Year4,90688th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,405Top 50%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,262Bottom 47%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,709Bottom 48%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1392024 ACS 5-Year$1,631Bottom 16%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,4772024 ACS 5-Year$520,30089th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1822024 ACS 5-Year$4,49187th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,5812024 ACS 5-Year$155,368Top 6%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.86%43rd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year27.5%Top 45%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±802024 ACS 5-Year5684th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%63rd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%19th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±982024 ACS 5-Year12169th percentileof 32,3302024 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

68/ 100
Top 17% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 11,542 in 2024.

95% of the 150 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 Dakota County, which contains Mendota Heights, gained about 0.4% 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 $75,745, close to the $74,837 of households that moved out.

At 12.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
150
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
12.9
Top 7% nationally
Year over year
+2900%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
95.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202412k12k
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 falling, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
27%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$75,745
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$74,837
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hennepin County, MN 6,338 people · 27% of arrivals
  2. Ramsey County, MN 4,071 people · 17% of arrivals
  3. Scott County, MN 1,636 people · 6.9% of arrivals
  4. Washington County, MN 1,441 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  5. Anoka County, MN 569 people · 2.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Hennepin County, MN 4,745 people · 21% of departures
  2. Ramsey County, MN 2,695 people · 12% of departures
  3. Scott County, MN 1,933 people · 8.7% of departures
  4. Washington County, MN 1,711 people · 7.7% of departures
  5. Anoka County, MN 699 people · 3.2% 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 Dakota County, MN. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025856.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+1317%).

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 9°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.6 inches, including 51.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL AP, 4.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year592024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals51.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals9°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals58°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
59
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

88 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 42% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 86% of measured US cities.

Strong windHigh
HailElevated
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

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.

Violent crime
52
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
844
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Mendota Heights's police department reported 52 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 844.

Dakota County records 2.9 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 6.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.1 per 100,000 residents in Dakota County.

Homicide
2.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
12.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
12.5
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Mendota Heights’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 Mendota Heights (Dakota County) rather than Mendota Heights 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.

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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain at 4 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year96.5%Top 18%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle4 miTop 7%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.6%Top 23%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP4 mi11,006 ft
Rochester IntlRST74 mi9,034 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU81 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
68
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Other cities in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MinneapolisHennepin County427,24657Minneapolis vs Mendota Heights
St. PaulRamsey County307,28456St. Paul vs Mendota Heights
BloomingtonHennepin County88,66556Bloomington vs Mendota Heights
Brooklyn ParkHennepin County83,87654
PlymouthHennepin County79,22070
WoodburyWashington County78,30568
LakevilleDakota County74,35471
BlaineAnoka County72,48857
Maple GroveHennepin County71,17364
EaganDakota County68,00067
BurnsvilleDakota County64,46357
Coon RapidsAnoka County63,46851

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Mendota Heights side by side with a similar place.

Mendota Heights vs ChanhassenMendota Heights vs Abington

Moving to Mendota Heights from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 codes in Mendota Heights

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Mendota Heights with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
551205,058$116,346$515,60068