North Mankato, Minnesota

Area Profile

14,211 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for North Mankato, in Nicollet County.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 20% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 36% of 3,904 cities measured63
SchoolsTop 12% of 2,668 cities measured81
GrowthTop 46% of 2,973 cities measured52
Housing affordabilityTop 14% of 4,223 cities measured97
Climate4142nd of 4,223 cities measured53
Physical resilienceTop 33% of 4,182 cities measured73
Access3926th of 4,226 cities measured61
Economic stabilityTop 5% of 4,226 cities measured82
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.9% and median household income $80,791, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 14% of median household income and the median home is 3.2 times it.

A typical July reaches 82°F and a typical January falls to 6°F, on thirty-year normals.

At a glance

Population
14,211
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,791
Top 33% nationally
Density
2,208/sq mi
6.4 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Nicollet County
Minnesota
Metro area
Mankato, MN
Nearest major airport
MSP
63 mi · Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-Chamberlain
Median home value
$262,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 66% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 19,093 employed residents.

41% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 82% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$6,259$80,791Top 33%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$9,273$51,604Top 16%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate4.5%Bottom 22%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute16.2 minBottom 7%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher40.7%Top 18%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment19,093Bottom 23%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.0%Top 49%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.8%Bottom 48%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force19,863Bottom 23%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation72.7%Top 12%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$62,430Bottom 24%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,530Bottom 38%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.4%Top 36%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate3.9%Bottom 34%of 3,904June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202481k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,791 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

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 Nicollet County, MN, which contains this city.

60% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 62% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.4 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
60.1%
Top 17% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
61.5%
Top 20% in Minnesota
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
HOOVER ELEMENTARYMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT46115.955%57%
MONROE ELEMENTARYMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT36713.654%57%
BRIDGES COMMUNITY ELEMENTARYMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT25116.779%76%
FUTURES PROGRAMMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT332.8
Futures SunMANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT21
Socrates OnlineSocrates0

31.5% 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 $973 takes 14% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
14.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$973
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$262,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income3.24Top 42%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate69.7%Bottom 37%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2046,129Top 10%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$35$973Top 50%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,454$262,100Top 34%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income14.5%Bottom 21%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate3.3%Bottom 21%of 32,0012024 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
52/ 100
Top 46% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2022 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 fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 14,142 in 2024.

63% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 3.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
54
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.8
Top 37% nationally
Year over year
+54%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
63.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202414k14k
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
20222023202420257015
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−36%).

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 6°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.9 inches, including 38.7 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 MANKATO, 2.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation33.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall38.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low6°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing57°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

73 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Overall hazard risk is lower than 75% of measured US cities.

Strong windHigh
Winter weatherModerate
HailModerate
TornadoHigh
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate

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

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
156
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
702
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

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

North Mankato's police department reported 156 violent offences per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 702.

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 8.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 8.5 per 100,000 residents in Nicollet County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
8.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Offences are reported to the FBI by North Mankato’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Nicollet 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 North Mankato rather than North Mankato 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.

Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. 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. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 63 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP63 mi11,006 ft
Rochester IntlRST79 mi9,034 ft
Chippewa Valley RgnlEAU134 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
69
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Other cities in Mankato, MN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MankatoBlue Earth County45,47365vs North Mankato
St. PeterNicollet County12,18564vs North Mankato

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.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
safetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
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.

ZIP codes in North Mankato

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
5600315,258$82,53869