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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-NELSON-MN · Nelson, MN 113 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 Nelson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Nelson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Goodnews Bay · lowest
29,167
Goodnews Bay · lowest
29,167 median HH income
11.7% of the leader · rank #1
Nelson · this city
52,708
Nelson · this city
52,708 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #2
Santa Rosa · near
52,708
Santa Rosa · near
52,708 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #3
Dustin Acres · near
52,708
Dustin Acres · near
52,708 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #4
Evans Mills · near
52,708
Evans Mills · near
52,708 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #5
Vanderbilt · near
52,708
Vanderbilt · near
52,708 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #6
Mountain Mead… · highest
250,001
Mountain Mead… · 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Nelson 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: 113.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Nelson lands in the 24th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
24th
percentile, household income
29th
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: Nelson, MN
113 people live in Nelson, Minnesota - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Nelson brings in $52,708 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Nelson's housing stock carries a median value of $156,700, and the median resident age is 47.8 years. About 10.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 73.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,125 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Minnesota run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 42.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Nelson'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Nelson, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Nelson?
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 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Nelson?
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 Trommald (113 residents, $52,667 income); Darfur (112 residents, $62,500 income); Lastrup (112 residents, $65,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Goodnews Bay, AK (113 residents); Kaibab, AZ (113 residents); Poplar Grove, AR (113 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 does the journey to work look like in Nelson?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 87.0%. 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. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +5 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.8% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. 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.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
D
City profile score · Nelson, MN
45/100
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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
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.
Household income F
$52,708
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.6%
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).
Nelson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $52,708
Bachelor's+ share: 8/100 (F) · 10.6%
How does Nelson compare to other US cities?
Here's how Nelson stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income24% higher than other cities
Home value29% 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 Nelson 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 Nelson near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Nelson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Nelson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#633 of 775
18th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#435 of 774
44th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#693 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#669 of 784
14th 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 Nelson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$156,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 71% 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
Nelson's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,547 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,564 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Nelson sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,547 of 15,516 and #5,564 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
$52,708Nelson, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Nelson, 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 Nelson, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)73.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
113
Median Income
$52,708
Median Home Value
$156,700
Median Age
47.8
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
73.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.6%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Nelson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
181 residents
2021
182 residents
2022
183 residents
2023
184 residents
2024
185 residents
2025
186 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
87.0%
Carpool
2.9%
Public Transit
1.4%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
7.2%
Other
1.5%
Based on 69 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 Nelson. 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 Nelson 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 Nelson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Nelson 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.