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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-MELROSE-MN · Melrose, MN 3,608 pop · income 32nd 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 Melrose
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Melrose on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Greensboro · lowest
42,508
Greensboro · lowest
42,508 median HH income
21.9% of the leader · rank #1
Bangor · near
58,096
Bangor · near
58,096 median HH income
29.9% of the leader · rank #2
Newark · near
58,096
Newark · near
58,096 median HH income
29.9% of the leader · rank #3
Swift Trail J… · near
58,105
Swift Trail J… · near
58,105 median HH income
29.9% of the leader · rank #4
Melrose · this city
58,107
Melrose · this city
58,107 median HH income
29.9% of the leader · rank #5
Chalfant · near
58,116
Chalfant · near
58,116 median HH income
29.9% of the leader · rank #6
Independence · highest
194,205
Independence · highest
194,205 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 Melrose 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: 3,608.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Melrose - the verdict
Melrose ranks in the 32nd percentile for household income and the 93rd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
32nd
percentile, household income
42nd
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
93rd
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: Melrose, MN
3,608 people live in Melrose, Minnesota - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Melrose brings in $58,107 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.3%. Home values in Melrose run a median of $198,300, and the median resident age is 43.4 years. Educational attainment runs 17.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 61.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 3 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier. Melrose reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 304.5 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 42.0°F with 29.1 inches of precipitation per year and 39.0 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). 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 Melrose'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 schools and households to population change to reported crime to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Melrose, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count.
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.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Melrose?
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 42.0°F, with 29.1 inches of precipitation and 39.0 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 Melrose?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.1%. 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. 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.
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. 17.8% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Melrose?
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 Two Harbors (3,598 residents, $62,885 income); Perham (3,577 residents, $47,088 income); St. Augusta (3,576 residents, $116,384 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gibson City, IL (3,609 residents); Delshire, OH (3,607 residents); Jasper, TN (3,610 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 Melrose growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +279 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +7.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 3 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 upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
2020 estimate
3,609
2025 estimate
3,888
Period change
+7.7%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Melrose?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 304.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 87% 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.
Total reported rate
304.5
Violent rate
110.7
Property rate
193.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Melrose?
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 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.4×
Home value
$198,300
Household income
$58,107
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 9.3% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.6 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
D
City profile score · Melrose, MN
43/100
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 B-
111 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Poverty rate D
9.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$58,107
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Melrose profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 68/100 (B-) · 111 /100k
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Poverty rate: 42/100 (D) · 9.3%
Household income: 32/100 (F) · $58,107
Bachelor's+ share: 28/100 (F) · 17.8%
Where Melrose sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Melrose'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 - Melrose highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Melrose, MN (this city): home $198,300, crime 305/100k
Jasper, TN : home $173,900, crime 856/100k
Laguna Vista, TX : home $267,500, crime 683/100k
Greensboro, GA : home $159,800, crime 1,056/100k
Two Harbors, MN : home $187,100, crime 600/100k
Perham, MN : home $186,000, crime 377/100k
Long Prairie, MN : home $130,100, crime 1,048/100k
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 Melrose compare to other US cities?
Where Melrose sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income32% higher than other cities
Home value42% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety93% 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, Melrose ranks #45 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 Melrose 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 Melrose near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Melrose ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Melrose only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#559 of 775
28th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#319 of 774
59th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#220 of 785
71st percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#477 of 784
39th 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
32nd percentile nationally for median household income · 93rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Melrose's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Melrose'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 Melrose's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$198,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 58% 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
Melrose's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,626 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,997 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.4×, Melrose sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,626 of 15,516 and #6,997 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$58,107Melrose, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Melrose, 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 Melrose, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,608
Median Income
$58,107
Median Home Value
$198,300
Median Age
43.4
Poverty Rate
9.3%
Labor force participation
61.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
304.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
110.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
193.8
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
42.0°F
Annual Precipitation
29.1"
Annual Snowfall
39.0"
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
Melrose's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,609 residents
2021
3,607 residents
2022
3,619 residents
2023
3,633 residents
2024
3,884 residents
2025
3,888 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
3
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.7M
2020
2
2
0
$0.4M
2021
2
2
0
$0.4M
2022
2
2
0
$0.7M
2023
103
1
102
$17.0M
2024
3
3
0
$1.1M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.1%
Carpool
8.9%
Public Transit
0.1%
Walk
8.1%
Work from Home
9.8%
Other
1.0%
Based on 1,734 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 Melrose. 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 Melrose 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 Melrose sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Melrose 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.