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-LA-CRESCENT-MN · La Crescent, MN 5,266 pop · income 64th pct · 5 tracts
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 La Crescent
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest La Crescent on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Redwood Falls · lowest
61,947
Redwood Falls · lowest
61,947 median HH income
24.8% of the leader · rank #1
Camino · near
82,098
Camino · near
82,098 median HH income
32.8% of the leader · rank #2
La Crescent · this city
82,109
La Crescent · this city
82,109 median HH income
32.8% of the leader · rank #3
Cedarburg · near
82,110
Cedarburg · near
82,110 median HH income
32.8% of the leader · rank #4
Lake Junaluska · near
82,115
Lake Junaluska · near
82,115 median HH income
32.8% of the leader · rank #5
Mont Clare · near
82,115
Mont Clare · near
82,115 median HH income
32.8% of the leader · rank #6
Fox Chapel · highest
250,001
Fox Chapel · highest
250,001 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 La Crescent 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: 5,266.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
La Crescent - the verdict
La Crescent ranks in the 64th percentile for household income and the 85th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
64th
percentile, household income
55th
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
85th
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: La Crescent, MN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 5,266 residents in La Crescent, a small town within Minnesota. The typical household in La Crescent brings in $82,109 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.2%. Home values in La Crescent run a median of $244,500, and the median resident age is 45.5 years. 35.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 61.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 11 residential building permits were authorized in La Crescent (Rapid Growth), up 38% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. La Crescent reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 511.5 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,125 per month. 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 La Crescent'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 housing and income to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to reported crime to work and mobility to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For La Crescent, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in La Crescent?
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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can 5 Census tracts reveal inside La Crescent?
PlainCities matches 5 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for La Crescent?
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.
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Montevideo (5,303 residents, $65,724 income); North Oaks (5,175 residents, $235,858 income); Falcon Heights (5,145 residents, $93,233 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Wheatley Heights, NY (5,266 residents); Peppermill, MD (5,268 residents); Firthcliffe, NY (5,268 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in La Crescent?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 511.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 78% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
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 La Crescent?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.7%. 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.
Drive alone
80.7%
Work from home
12.0%
Public transit
2.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,619 workers age 16+.
Is La Crescent growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -80 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 11 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
5,341
2025 estimate
5,261
Period change
-1.5%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the education layer cover for La Crescent?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 35.7% 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
2.2%
Bachelor's degree+
35.7%
Matched public schools
5
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
B-
City profile score · La Crescent, MN
67/100
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.
Poverty rate A-
2.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime B+
76 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B-
35.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C+
$82,109
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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.
La Crescent profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) · 2.2%
Violent crime: 77/100 (B+) · 76 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 68/100 (B-) · 35.7%
Household income: 61/100 (C+) · $82,109
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Where La Crescent sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
La Crescent'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 - La Crescent highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
La Crescent, MN (this city): home $244,500, crime 512/100k
Fox Chapel, PA : home $880,100, crime 293/100k
Lehighton, PA : home $198,600, crime 1,312/100k
Medina, TN : home $261,400, crime 407/100k
Redwood Falls, MN : home $162,000, crime 1,487/100k
St. Paul Park, MN : home $252,800, crime 1,148/100k
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 La Crescent compare to other US cities?
Here's how La Crescent stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income64% higher than other cities
Home value55% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety85% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Minnesota and the picture shifts: La Crescent ranks #69 of 229 Minnesota cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares La Crescent 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 La Crescent near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, La Crescent ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares La Crescent only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#244 of 775
69th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#226 of 774
71st percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#597 of 785
23rd percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#149 of 784
81st 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
64th percentile nationally for median household income · 85th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
La Crescent's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
La Crescent'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 La Crescent's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$244,50045th percentilemore affordable than 45% 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
La Crescent's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,575 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,583 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, La Crescent sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,575 of 15,516 and #5,583 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
$82,109La Crescent, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context La Crescent, 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 La Crescent, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)35.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,266
Median Income
$82,109
Median Home Value
$244,500
Median Age
45.5
Poverty Rate
2.2%
Labor force participation
61.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
511.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
75.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
435.7
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.
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
La Crescent's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,341 residents
2021
5,344 residents
2022
5,328 residents
2023
5,328 residents
2024
5,299 residents
2025
5,261 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
11
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
8
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
8
8
0
$2.4M
2020
18
8
10
$4.0M
2021
14
5
9
$3.6M
2022
20
14
6
$6.6M
2023
16
10
6
$6.4M
2024
11
3
8
$3.6M
Permit volume increased 38% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.7%
Carpool
5.0%
Public Transit
2.3%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
12.0%
Based on 2,619 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 La Crescent. 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 La Crescent 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 La Crescent sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How La Crescent 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, 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.