Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetMN-BROWNS-VALLEY-MN · Browns Valley, MN 453 pop · income 24th 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 Browns Valley
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Browns Valley on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Erskine · lowest
32,083
Erskine · lowest
32,083 median HH income
14.4% of the leader · rank #1
Browns Valley · this city
53,056
Browns Valley · this city
53,056 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #2
La Center · near
53,056
La Center · near
53,056 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #3
Addison · near
53,056
Addison · near
53,056 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #4
New Franklin · near
53,056
New Franklin · near
53,056 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #5
East Tawakoni · near
53,056
East Tawakoni · near
53,056 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #6
Rock Ridge · highest
222,159
Rock Ridge · highest
222,159 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 Browns Valley 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: 453.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Browns Valley lands in the 24th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
24th
percentile, household income
3rd
percentile, home value
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: Browns Valley, MN
Browns Valley is a small town in Minnesota, home to 453 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Browns Valley brings in $53,056 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 18.3%. Browns Valley's housing stock carries a median value of $76,500, and the median resident age is 47.0 years. About 5.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 65.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 43.0°F with 25.4 inches of precipitation per year and 44.2 inches of snowfall.
Minnesota tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Minnesota scores 98.6 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,125 per month. 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 Browns Valley'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 work and mobility to housing and income to population change to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Browns Valley, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Browns Valley?
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 43.0°F, with 25.4 inches of precipitation and 44.2 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Browns Valley?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 62.1%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
How far does income reach against housing in Browns Valley?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 18.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Browns Valley?
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 New Auburn (453 residents, $68,977 income); Rose Creek (453 residents, $79,583 income); Nevis (452 residents, $53,889 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rock Ridge, CT (453 residents); Edgington, IL (453 residents); Williams Creek, IN (453 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.
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.
Population change
Is Browns Valley growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -50 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -9.0% 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.
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.
2020 estimate
554
2025 estimate
504
Period change
-9.0%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the education layer cover for Browns Valley?
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.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 5.7% 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.
Poverty estimate
18.3%
Bachelor's degree+
5.7%
Matched public schools
2
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
F
City profile score · Browns Valley, MN
23/100
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.
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.
Household income F
$53,056
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
18.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
5.7%
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).
Browns Valley profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $53,056
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 5.7%
How does Browns Valley compare to other US cities?
Where Browns Valley sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income24% higher than other cities
Home value3% pricier 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 Browns Valley 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 Browns Valley near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Browns Valley ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Browns Valley only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#630 of 775
19th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#718 of 774
7th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#47 of 785
94th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#754 of 784
4th 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
24th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Browns Valley's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$76,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 97% 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
Browns Valley's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#318 of 15,516
More affordable than 98% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#313 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.4×, Browns Valley sits in the affordable band:
national rank #318 of 15,516 and #313 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
$53,056Browns Valley, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Browns Valley, 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 Browns Valley, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)5.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
453
Median Income
$53,056
Median Home Value
$76,500
Median Age
47.0
Poverty Rate
18.3%
Labor force participation
65.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
5.7%
Climate
Avg Temperature
43.0°F
Annual Precipitation
25.4"
Annual Snowfall
44.2"
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
Browns Valley's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
554 residents
2021
541 residents
2022
532 residents
2023
513 residents
2024
508 residents
2025
504 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
62.1%
Carpool
9.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.7%
Work from Home
24.3%
Based on 214 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 Browns Valley. 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 Browns Valley 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 Browns Valley sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Browns Valley 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, 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.