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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-BABBITT-MN · Babbitt, MN 1,420 pop · income 26th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Babbitt
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Babbitt on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Appleton · lowest
40,117
Appleton · lowest
40,117 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #1
Babbitt · this city
54,318
Babbitt · this city
54,318 median HH income
35.8% of the leader · rank #2
Mansfield · near
54,318
Mansfield · near
54,318 median HH income
35.8% of the leader · rank #3
Seiling · near
54,318
Seiling · near
54,318 median HH income
35.8% of the leader · rank #4
Waymart · near
54,318
Waymart · near
54,318 median HH income
35.8% of the leader · rank #5
Bakerhill · near
54,327
Bakerhill · near
54,327 median HH income
35.8% of the leader · rank #6
Tonka Bay · highest
151,563
Tonka Bay · highest
151,563 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Babbitt on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 1,420.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Babbitt - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Babbitt lands in the 26th percentile for household income and the 95th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
26th
percentile, household income
8th
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
95th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Babbitt, MN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,420 residents in Babbitt, a small town within Minnesota. The typical household in Babbitt brings in $54,318 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.2%. Typical homes in Babbitt are valued around $96,000, and the median resident age is 51.3 years. Educational attainment runs 19.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 50.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier. Babbitt reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 219.0 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 36.7°F with 29.8 inches of precipitation per year and 83.9 inches of snowfall.
Minnesota tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Minnesota at 98.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,125 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Minnesota's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Babbitt's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to housing and income to population change to work and mobility to schools and households to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Babbitt, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Babbitt?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 36.7°F, with 29.8 inches of precipitation and 83.9 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Minnesota is 42.4 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Which cities make useful reference points for Babbitt?
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Dawson (1,441 residents, $70,286 income); Renville (1,397 residents, $73,750 income); Hayfield (1,382 residents, $69,688 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Thermal, CA (1,420 residents); Moyie Springs, ID (1,420 residents); Nashville, IN (1,420 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
How far does income reach against housing in Babbitt?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -35 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Babbitt?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
10.6%
Drive alone
78.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 594 workers age 16+.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 19.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
19.1%
Poverty estimate
8.2%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Babbitt?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 219.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 90% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
73.0
Violent rate
146.0
Total reported rate
219.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 8.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.6 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
D
City profile score · Babbitt, MN
42/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Violent crime C
146 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate D
8.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living D
98.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
19.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$54,318
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Babbitt profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 59/100 (C) · 146 /100k
Poverty rate: 47/100 (D) · 8.2%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 32/100 (F) · 19.1%
Household income: 26/100 (F) · $54,318
Where Babbitt sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Babbitt's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Babbitt highlighted among 24 peers.Read the chart values
Babbitt, MN (this city): home $96,000, crime 219/100k
Renville, MN : home $109,700, crime 1,196/100k
Appleton, MN : home $71,300, crime 221/100k
Fulda, MN : home $155,100, crime 681/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Babbitt compare to other US cities?
Here's how Babbitt stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income26% higher than other cities
Home value8% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety95% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Minnesota, Babbitt ranks #29 of 229 Minnesota cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Babbitt against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Minnesota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Minnesota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Babbitt near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Babbitt ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Babbitt only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#608 of 775
22nd percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#658 of 774
15th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#251 of 785
67th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#440 of 784
43rd percentile in Minnesota
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Minnesota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
26th percentile nationally for median household income · 95th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Babbitt's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Babbitt's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Babbitt's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$96,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 92% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Babbitt's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#920 of 15,516
More affordable than 94% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#892 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.8×, Babbitt sits in the affordable band:
national rank #920 of 15,516 and #892 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$54,318Babbitt, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Babbitt, MN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Babbitt, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,420
Median Income
$54,318
Median Home Value
$96,000
Median Age
51.3
Poverty Rate
8.2%
Labor force participation
50.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
219.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
146.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
73.0
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
36.7°F
Annual Precipitation
29.8"
Annual Snowfall
83.9"
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Babbitt's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,398 residents
2021
1,390 residents
2022
1,387 residents
2023
1,380 residents
2024
1,372 residents
2025
1,363 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.5%
Carpool
7.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.5%
Work from Home
10.6%
Other
1.3%
Based on 594 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Minnesota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Minnesota at $225 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Minnesota statewide averages, not a meter reading for Babbitt. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Minnesota's BEA cost-of-living index is 98.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Babbitt is $1,125/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Minnesota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Minnesota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Babbitt sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Babbitt compares to similar-size Minnesota cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.