Worthington, Minnesota

Area Profile

13,780 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Worthington, in Nobles County.

45out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 9% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity3,927th of 4,199 cities measured31
Schools3,778th of 4,162 cities measured18
Growth3,672nd of 4,224 cities measured28
Housing affordabilityTop 6% of 4,218 cities measured84
Climate4,148th of 4,225 cities measured53
Physical resilienceTop 48% of 4,226 cities measured60
Access3,889th of 4,226 cities measured64
Economic stability3,333rd of 4,226 cities measured40
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.4% and the Opportunity signal places Worthington in the bottom 6%. The unemployment rate is published for Nobles County, MN, which contains Worthington, rather than for Worthington alone.

In the public schools here, 35% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.0 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 11 units authorized over the past twelve months, 88% below 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
13,780
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,797
Bottom 42% nationally
Density
1,733/sq mi
8 sq mi of land
Median age
33.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Minnesota
Micro area
Nearest major airport
FSD
57 mi · Joe Foss Fld
Median home value
$210,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Nobles County, MN, which contains Worthington, is 5.4% — higher than in all but 15% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Nobles County, MN, which contains Worthington, fell 1.5% over the past year, to 10,378 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsNobles County, MN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$47,8875th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftNobles County, MN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$51,9919th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,8562024 ACS 5-Year$61,797Bottom 42%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9012024 ACS 5-Year$27,450Bottom 28%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year18.0%Bottom 27%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.9 minTop 14%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.8%Bottom 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year71.7%32nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentNobles County, MN’s figureJuly 202610,378Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Nobles County, MN’s figureJuly 2026−1.5%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Nobles County, MN’s figureJuly 2026−1.5%Bottom 35%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceNobles County, MN’s figureJuly 202610,9713rd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.9%Bottom 49%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.7%92nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Nobles County, MN’s figureJuly 2026+0.4%Bottom 23%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateNobles County, MN’s figureJuly 20265.4%Bottom 15%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.8%31st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202462k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,797 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.

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

35% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.0 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.0
across 6 of them
Math proficiency
35.4%
Bottom 4% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
41.9%
Bottom 4% in Minnesota
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Worthington Senior HighWORTHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT1,11817.733%44%
Intermediate SchoolWORTHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT70514.1——
Prairie ElementaryWORTHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT69011.947%38%
Worthington MiddleWORTHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT66415.131%44%
Learning CenterWORTHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT826.85%30%
Early ChildhoodWORTHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT404.4——
Learning Center NightWORTHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT36———

67.6% 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.

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 $2,209 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.05% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,049, some 12% above the $938 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,049 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $42,000 a year, about 68% of the median household income here of $61,797.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $938 a month.

A median home at $210,300 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $71,465, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
24.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,049
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$938
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$210,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Worthington’s median household income of $61,797, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%63rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2+42.5%49th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Minnesota’s figure2026 Q2+88.5%44th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 36%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year67.2%32nd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1582024 ACS 5-Year4,94388th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$799Top 8%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,294Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,049Top 11%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1162024 ACS 5-Year$938Top 46%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,5962024 ACS 5-Year$210,30056th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2092024 ACS 5-Year$2,20960th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,5362024 ACS 5-Year$71,465Bottom 39%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.14%2024 ACS 5-Year1.05%55th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year24.8%Top 32%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±482024 ACS 5-Year3478th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%59th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%52nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1692024 ACS 5-Year39587th 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.

Development Momentum

28/ 100
Ranks 3,672 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 13,754 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 11 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Nobles County, which contains Worthington, lost about 1.8% 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 $47,887, below the $51,991 of households that moved out.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
11
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 22% nationally
Year over year
−88%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.8%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
50%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,887
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$51,991
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Jackson County, MN 55 people · 8.8% of arrivals
  2. Murray County, MN 45 people · 7.2% of arrivals
  3. Minnehaha County, SD 37 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  4. Cottonwood County, MN 33 people · 5.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Minnehaha County, SD 108 people · 11% of departures
  2. Jackson County, MN 69 people · 7.1% of departures
  3. Cottonwood County, MN 56 people · 5.8% of departures
  4. Murray County, MN 51 people · 5.3% of departures
  5. Rock County, MN 38 people · 3.9% 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 Nobles County, MN. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025907.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+592%).

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 5°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 30.5 inches, including 45.2 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 WORTHINGTON 2 NNE, 1.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals30.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals45.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals5°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals57°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

60 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 40% 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.

HailElevated
Winter weatherModerate
Cold waveModerate
Ice stormModerate
TornadoHigh
Strong windHigh
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: drought, inland flooding, lightning, landslide, 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.

Violent crime
277
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
787
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.

Worthington's police department reported 277 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 787.

Nobles 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 11.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 0.0 per 100,000 residents in Nobles County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.5
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Worthington’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 Worthington (Nobles County) rather than Worthington 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Joe Foss Fld at 57 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year87.6%Bottom 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle57 miBottom 9%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%Top 50%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Joe Foss FldFSD57 mi9,000 ft
Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day FldSUX94 mi9,002 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP146 mi11,006 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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45
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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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
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
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.

ZIP codes in Worthington

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Worthington with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Worthington closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5618715,214$64,326$219,000—