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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-SAUK-CENTRE-MN · Sauk Centre, MN 4,589 pop · income 44th pct · 8 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 Sauk Centre
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Sauk Centre on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ellisville · lowest
32,853
Ellisville · lowest
32,853 median HH income
24.4% of the leader · rank #1
Ignacio · near
65,759
Ignacio · near
65,759 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #2
Tangelo Park · near
65,761
Tangelo Park · near
65,761 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #3
Tyner · near
65,761
Tyner · near
65,761 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #4
Sauk Centre · this city
65,763
Sauk Centre · this city
65,763 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #5
Homeland · near
65,769
Homeland · near
65,769 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #6
Nowthen · highest
134,491
Nowthen · highest
134,491 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 Sauk Centre 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: 4,589.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Sauk Centre - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Sauk Centre lands in the 44th percentile for household income and the 56th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
44th
percentile, household income
42nd
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
56th
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: Sauk Centre, MN
Minnesota's Sauk Centre is a small town, with 4,589 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $65,763 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.9%. Sauk Centre's housing stock carries a median value of $196,000, and the median resident age is 39.3 years. 19.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 64.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 9 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Slowing), down 10% from five years earlier. Sauk Centre reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1188.9 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than 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. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Minnesota, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Sauk Centre'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 population change to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to work and mobility to reported crime to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Sauk Centre, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Sauk Centre 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 +103 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 9 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Sauk Centre?
Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Nowthen (4,539 residents, $134,491 income); Rockford (4,521 residents, $82,228 income); Dilworth (4,664 residents, $89,577 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Waimanalo Beach, HI (4,587 residents); Pinardville, NH (4,586 residents); Ellisville, MS (4,593 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.
What can 8 Census tracts reveal inside Sauk Centre?
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Sauk Centre?
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 74.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Sauk Centre?
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 1188.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 48% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1124.1
Violent rate
64.9
Total reported rate
1188.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Sauk Centre?
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 19.9% 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
4
Bachelor's degree+
19.9%
Poverty estimate
7.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Sauk Centre?
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 7.9%, 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. 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.
Household income
$65,763
Home value
$196,000
Value / income
3.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 7.9% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.6 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
C-
City profile score · Sauk Centre, MN
51/100
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 A-
65 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate D
7.9%
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 D
$65,763
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
19.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Sauk Centre profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 80/100 (A-) · 65 /100k
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 7.9%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Household income: 43/100 (D) · $65,763
Bachelor's+ share: 34/100 (F) · 19.9%
Where Sauk Centre sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Sauk Centre'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 - Sauk Centre highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Sauk Centre, MN (this city): home $196,000, crime 1,189/100k
Ellisville, MS : home $97,000, crime 1,485/100k
New Boston, TX : home $99,000, crime 4,244/100k
Butler, MO : home $124,100, crime 4,217/100k
Dilworth, MN : home $268,100, crime 6,421/100k
Chisholm, MN : home $108,100, crime 1,844/100k
St. James, MN : home $109,600, crime 707/100k
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 Sauk Centre compare to other US cities?
Here's how Sauk Centre stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income44% higher than other cities
Home value42% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety56% 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, Sauk Centre ranks #135 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 Sauk Centre 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 Sauk Centre near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Sauk Centre ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Sauk Centre only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#424 of 775
45th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#323 of 774
58th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#262 of 785
66th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#410 of 784
47th 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
44th percentile nationally for median household income · 56th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Sauk Centre's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Sauk Centre'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 Sauk Centre's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$196,000Among 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
Sauk Centre's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,591 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,595 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Sauk Centre sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,591 of 15,516 and #5,595 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
$65,763Sauk Centre, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Sauk Centre, 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 Sauk Centre, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,589
Median Income
$65,763
Median Home Value
$196,000
Median Age
39.3
Poverty Rate
7.9%
Labor force participation
64.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1188.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
64.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1124.1
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
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Sauk Centre's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,560 residents
2021
4,603 residents
2022
4,620 residents
2023
4,637 residents
2024
4,651 residents
2025
4,663 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
9
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
6
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
10
6
4
$2.3M
2020
27
5
22
$3.9M
2021
6
6
0
$2.1M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
9
3
6
$2.4M
2024
9
3
6
$1.5M
Permit volume decreased 10% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.5%
Carpool
6.5%
Public Transit
0.4%
Walk
8.3%
Work from Home
7.9%
Other
2.4%
Based on 2,309 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 Sauk Centre. 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 Sauk Centre 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 Sauk Centre sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Sauk Centre 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.