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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-BIGELOW-MN · Bigelow, MN 269 pop · income 57th 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 Bigelow
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bigelow on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Young · lowest
30,956
Young · lowest
30,956 median HH income
34.0% of the leader · rank #1
Bigelow · this city
75,625
Bigelow · this city
75,625 median HH income
83.2% of the leader · rank #2
Grubbs · near
75,625
Grubbs · near
75,625 median HH income
83.2% of the leader · rank #3
Cynthiana · near
75,625
Cynthiana · near
75,625 median HH income
83.2% of the leader · rank #4
Letts · near
75,625
Letts · near
75,625 median HH income
83.2% of the leader · rank #5
Hebron · near
75,625
Hebron · near
75,625 median HH income
83.2% of the leader · rank #6
Millville · highest
90,938
Millville · highest
90,938 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bigelow on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 269.
Bigelow ranks in the 57th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
57th
percentile, household income
36th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Bigelow, MN
269 people live in Bigelow, Minnesota - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Bigelow households earn a median of $75,625 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.7%. The median resident age is 36.8 years. Educational attainment runs 7.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 70.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits).
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Minnesota run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 42.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bigelow'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bigelow, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Bigelow?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Bigelow?
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.
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Maynard (269 residents, $41,515 income); Hewitt (268 residents, $61,750 income); Bowlus (267 residents, $75,208 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Young, AZ (269 residents); Ardentown, DE (269 residents); Norris, IL (269 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -2 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.9% 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.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Above median income · poverty 7.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.6 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
D
City profile score · Bigelow, MN
41/100
4 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.
Household income C
$75,625
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
7.7%
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
7.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Bigelow profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 55/100 (C) · $75,625
Poverty rate: 49/100 (D) · 7.7%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 7.5%
How does Bigelow compare to other US cities?
Bigelow measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income57% higher than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bigelow 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 Bigelow near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bigelow ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bigelow only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#295 of 775
62nd percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#271 of 785
65th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#728 of 784
7th 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
57th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$75,625Bigelow, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bigelow, 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 Bigelow, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)7.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)70.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
269
Median Income
$75,625
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
36.8
Poverty Rate
7.7%
Labor force participation
70.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
7.5%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bigelow's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
225 residents
2021
224 residents
2022
222 residents
2023
221 residents
2024
223 residents
2025
223 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
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.5%
Carpool
16.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
9.2%
Work from Home
1.4%
Based on 142 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 Bigelow. 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 Bigelow 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 Bigelow sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bigelow 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, 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.