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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-PARK-RAPIDS-MN · Park Rapids, MN 4,226 pop · income 14th 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 Park Rapids
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Park Rapids on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ashburn · lowest
32,692
Ashburn · lowest
32,692 median HH income
14.3% of the leader · rank #1
Lancaster · near
45,795
Lancaster · near
45,795 median HH income
20.1% of the leader · rank #2
Nevada · near
45,799
Nevada · near
45,799 median HH income
20.1% of the leader · rank #3
Lorain · near
45,799
Lorain · near
45,799 median HH income
20.1% of the leader · rank #4
Park Rapids · this city
45,800
Park Rapids · this city
45,800 median HH income
20.1% of the leader · rank #5
Lexa · near
45,804
Lexa · near
45,804 median HH income
20.1% of the leader · rank #6
Spring Valley · highest
227,857
Spring Valley · highest
227,857 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 Park Rapids 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: 4,226.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Park Rapids - the verdict
Park Rapids ranks in the 14th percentile for household income and the 22nd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
14th
percentile, household income
48th
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
22nd
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: Park Rapids, MN
Park Rapids is a small town in Minnesota, home to 4,226 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Park Rapids brings in $45,800 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.8%. Park Rapids's housing stock carries a median value of $218,500, and the median resident age is 45.2 years. 25.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 53.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 6 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 83% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 2529.9 incidents per 100,000 residents, near 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. 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 Park Rapids'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income to population change to reported crime to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Park Rapids, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
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.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Park Rapids?
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Cannon Falls (4,216 residents, $80,515 income); Columbus (4,211 residents, $117,917 income); Le Sueur (4,204 residents, $71,563 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Ashburn, GA (4,226 residents); Spring Valley, TX (4,226 residents); Geneva, AL (4,227 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Park Rapids?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Is Park Rapids growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +279 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 6 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Park Rapids?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2529.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 11% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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 Park Rapids?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.9%
Work from home
10.6%
Drive alone
76.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,840 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for Park Rapids?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 25.6% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
7
Bachelor's degree+
25.6%
Poverty estimate
4.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
F
City profile score · Park Rapids, MN
38/100
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 B-
4.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C-
25.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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.
Violent crime F
414 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$45,800
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Park Rapids profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 67/100 (B-) · 4.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.6%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Violent crime: 21/100 (F) · 414 /100k
Household income: 15/100 (F) · $45,800
Where Park Rapids sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Park Rapids'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 - Park Rapids highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Park Rapids, MN (this city): home $218,500, crime 2,530/100k
Spring Valley, TX : home $1,071,800, crime 1,609/100k
Ashdown, AR : home $130,900, crime 3,216/100k
Danville, PA : home $183,600, crime 1,266/100k
Cannon Falls, MN : home $262,100, crime 1,192/100k
Le Sueur, MN : home $216,700, crime 260/100k
Goodview, MN : home $215,200, crime 25/100k
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 Park Rapids compare to other US cities?
Park Rapids measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income14% higher than other cities
Home value48% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety22% 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: Park Rapids ranks #205 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 Park Rapids 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 Park Rapids near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Park Rapids ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Park Rapids only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#716 of 775
8th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#278 of 774
64th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#439 of 785
43rd percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#281 of 784
64th 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
14th percentile nationally for median household income · 22nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Park Rapids's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Park Rapids'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 Park Rapids's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$218,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 52% 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
Park Rapids's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,500 of 15,516
More affordable than 19% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,514 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.8×, Park Rapids sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,500 of 15,516 and #9,514 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
$45,800Park Rapids, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Park Rapids, 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 Park Rapids, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,226
Median Income
$45,800
Median Home Value
$218,500
Median Age
45.2
Poverty Rate
4.8%
Labor force participation
53.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2529.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
414.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2115.9
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
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Park Rapids's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,168 residents
2021
4,235 residents
2022
4,270 residents
2023
4,297 residents
2024
4,398 residents
2025
4,447 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
6
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
36
8
28
$3.9M
2020
9
9
0
$1.7M
2021
8
8
0
$2.3M
2022
5
5
0
$1.5M
2023
66
8
58
$7.2M
2024
6
4
2
$1.2M
Permit volume decreased 83% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.0%
Carpool
5.5%
Public Transit
1.9%
Walk
1.8%
Work from Home
10.6%
Other
4.2%
Based on 1,840 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 Park Rapids. 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 Park Rapids 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 Park Rapids sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Park Rapids 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.