Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetMN-ST-CLOUD-MN · St. Cloud, MN 69,926 pop · income 37th pct · 10 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 St. Cloud
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest St. Cloud on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Guaynabo zona… · lowest
53,936
Guaynabo zona… · lowest
53,936 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #1
Pine Island C… · near
61,111
Pine Island C… · near
61,111 median HH income
42.3% of the leader · rank #2
Spring Bay · near
61,111
Spring Bay · near
61,111 median HH income
42.3% of the leader · rank #3
Thornton · near
61,111
Thornton · near
61,111 median HH income
42.3% of the leader · rank #4
Otis · near
61,111
Otis · near
61,111 median HH income
42.3% of the leader · rank #5
St. Cloud · this city
61,112
St. Cloud · this city
61,112 median HH income
42.3% of the leader · rank #6
Redondo Beach · highest
144,588
Redondo Beach · highest
144,588 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 St. Cloud 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: 69,926.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
St. Cloud - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, St. Cloud lands in the 37th percentile for household income and the 12th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
37th
percentile, household income
46th
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
12th
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: St. Cloud, MN
Minnesota's St. Cloud is a small city, with 69,926 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in St. Cloud report a median income of $61,112 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.9%. St. Cloud's housing stock carries a median value of $212,800, and the median resident age is 31.0 years. 29.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 63.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 288 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 227% from five years earlier. St. Cloud's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 3323.4 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as 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. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 42.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of St. Cloud'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 work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to reported crime to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For St. Cloud, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in St. Cloud?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.8%. 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.
Is St. Cloud growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +3,035 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 288 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for St. Cloud?
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 Maple Grove (70,539 residents, $129,481 income); Blaine (71,261 residents, $103,382 income); Eagan (68,158 residents, $107,486 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are West Des Moines, IA (69,893 residents); Lakewood, NJ (69,884 residents); Tulare, CA (69,984 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 can 10 Census tracts reveal inside St. Cloud?
PlainCities matches 10 Census tracts to this city.
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.
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 St. Cloud?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3323.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 46% higher 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
3323.4
Violent rate
408.4
Property rate
2915.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in St. Cloud?
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 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.5×
Home value
$212,800
Household income
$61,112
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 11.9% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.6 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
F
City profile score · St. Cloud, 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.
Bachelor's+ share C
29.4%
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.
Household income F
$61,112
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
11.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
408 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
St. Cloud profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 57/100 (C) · 29.4%
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Household income: 36/100 (F) · $61,112
Poverty rate: 32/100 (F) · 11.9%
Violent crime: 22/100 (F) · 408 /100k
Where St. Cloud sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
St. Cloud'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 - St. Cloud highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
St. Cloud, MN (this city): home $212,800, crime 3,323/100k
West Des Moines, IA : home $286,300, crime 1,879/100k
Tulare, CA : home $301,200, crime 2,415/100k
Redondo Beach, CA : home $1,225,400, crime 2,835/100k
Walnut Creek, CA : home $1,031,100, crime 3,178/100k
Maple Grove, MN : home $397,400, crime 1,877/100k
Blaine, MN : home $327,500, crime 1,500/100k
Eagan, MN : home $380,800, crime 1,873/100k
Lakeville, MN : home $425,200, crime 648/100k
Burnsville, MN : home $335,100, crime 2,098/100k
Coon Rapids, MN : home $287,200, crime 1,851/100k
How does St. Cloud compare to other US cities?
Here's how St. Cloud stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income37% higher than other cities
Home value46% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety12% 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: St. Cloud ranks #218 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 St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. Cloud ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. Cloud only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#512 of 775
34th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#296 of 774
62nd percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#141 of 785
82nd percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#218 of 784
72nd 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
37th percentile nationally for median household income · 12th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
St. Cloud's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
St. Cloud'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 St. Cloud's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$212,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 54% 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
St. Cloud's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,901 of 15,516
More affordable than 43% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#211 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.5×, St. Cloud sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,901 of 15,516 and #211 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$61,112St. Cloud, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context St. Cloud, 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 St. Cloud, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
69,926
Median Income
$61,112
Median Home Value
$212,800
Median Age
31.0
Poverty Rate
11.9%
Labor force participation
63.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3323.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
408.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2915.0
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.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
St. Cloud's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
69,612 residents
2021
69,802 residents
2022
70,503 residents
2023
71,542 residents
2024
72,129 residents
2025
72,647 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
288
housing units authorized
Single-Family
78
detached homes
Multifamily
210
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
88
88
0
$20.9M
2020
141
113
28
$29.7M
2021
128
126
2
$29.3M
2022
346
97
249
$58.8M
2023
237
141
96
$42.1M
2024
288
78
210
$46.0M
Permit volume increased 227% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.8%
Carpool
9.1%
Public Transit
2.5%
Walk
5.4%
Work from Home
7.7%
Other
2.5%
Based on 34,823 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 St. Cloud. 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 St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How St. Cloud 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, 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.