Population
26,462 residents
Census ACS 2023 — Minnesota
City profile · Minnesota · Census ACS 2023
Population, income, housing, safety, climate and schools for Owatonna — drawn straight from Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA, NCES, HUD and FEMA, refreshed on the 2024–2025 release cycle.
Owatonna is a city in Minnesota with a population of 26,462 residents based on U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here reaches $81,276 per year, while the poverty rate sits at 4.4%. Typical homes in Owatonna are valued around $234,600, and the median resident age is 40.0 years. About 32.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 63.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 14 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 78% from five years earlier. FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 970.9 incidents per 1,000 residents, above the national average, indicating elevated public-safety concerns. NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 44.8°F with 35.5 inches of precipitation per year and 44.2 inches of snowfall.
On a cost-of-living index where 100 equals the national average, Minnesota registers 98.6 (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,125 per month. Average monthly utility bills run around $225 based on EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 out of 100 (Low).
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, PlainCities renders standardized city-level demographic, income, education, employment, and housing indicators across more than 19,000 incorporated places nationwide. Population counts and median household income figures are sourced directly from Census Table B01003 and B19013 respectively, with poverty rates from B17001 and cost-of-living adjustments from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities (RPP) 2024 release. Every value displayed in this snapshot links back to the official upstream tables and is refreshed on the ACS annual release cadence (typically December of the survey year + 1).
Methodology: city boundaries follow the Census Bureau's place-level geography (incorporated places, census-designated places, and consolidated city-county governments), with FIPS codes ensuring consistent identifiers across decennial and annual surveys. Cost-of-living comparisons use BEA's Regional Price Parities (RPP) indexed to the national average (100), enabling cross-city purchasing-power comparisons. See our methodology page for full source attribution, refresh cadence, and known data quality limitations including margin-of-error disclosure and sample-size thresholds.
Population
26,462 residents
Census ACS 2023 — Minnesota
Median Household Income
$81,276 /yr
Poverty 4.4%
Cost of Living Index
98.6 (US=100)
Near Average — BEA RPP 2024
Where Owatonna sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure — computed live from Census and FBI data.
Percentiles compare Owatonna against every US city with at least 1,000 residents. "Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Census ACS S1501 — educational attainment
Census ACS S1701 — poverty status
Census ACS S2301 — share of working-age residents in the labor force
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) — annual residential permits authorized
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 63 |
| 2020 | 114 |
| 2021 | 121 |
| 2022 | 172 |
| 2023 | 143 |
| 2024 | 14 |
Permit volume decreased 78% from 2019 to 2024.
How workers travel to work — Census ACS 2023
Based on 12,907 workers 16 and over.
State-average estimates for Minnesota — EIA 2023 residential energy data
Estimates reflect Minnesota state averages. Actual costs vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Minnesota state-level data from PlainCost, PlainRent, and PlainHazard
National-average reference values shown when city-level race/ethnicity table is not loaded. Source: Census ACS 5-year, OMB Directive 15 race-and-ethnicity categories.
Census ACS 2023 — population and median income benchmarks
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Owatonna, MN has a population of 26,462 according to U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates.
The median household income in Owatonna is $81,276 per year, based on Census ACS 2023 data.
Owatonna has a cost of living index of 98.6 (U.S. average = 100), rated "Near Average" based on BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 data.
Owatonna has a total crime rate of 970.9 per 1,000 residents, which is above the national average. Source: FBI UCR data.
The median home value in Owatonna is $234,600, according to Census ACS 2023 estimates.
Owatonna has an average annual temperature of 44.8°F, 35.5 inches of precipitation, and 44.2 inches of snowfall per year. Source: NOAA Climate Normals.
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.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.