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Place dossier plate
SheetMN-ST-JOSEPH-MN · St. Joseph, MN 7,024 pop · income 56th pct · 37 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. Joseph
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest St. Joseph on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Fort Pierce N… · lowest
36,707
Fort Pierce N… · lowest
36,707 median HH income
14.7% of the leader · rank #1
Fieldon · near
75,208
Fieldon · near
75,208 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #2
St. Joseph · this city
75,217
St. Joseph · this city
75,217 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #3
Marshall · near
75,220
Marshall · near
75,220 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #4
Nevada · near
75,221
Nevada · near
75,221 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #5
Mulberry · near
75,223
Mulberry · near
75,223 median HH income
30.1% of the leader · rank #6
Atherton · highest
250,001
Atherton · 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for St. Joseph 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: 7,024.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
St. Joseph - the verdict
Nationally, St. Joseph sits in the 56th percentile for household income and the 83rd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
56th
percentile, household income
53rd
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
83rd
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. Joseph, MN
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 7,024 residents in St. Joseph, a small town within Minnesota. Median household income here is $75,217 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.6%. Typical homes in St. Joseph are valued around $240,300, and the median resident age is 23.9 years. 30.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 70.1% 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 (Construction Slowdown), down 88% from five years earlier. St. Joseph reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 567.2 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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,125 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Minnesota's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). Workers in St. Joseph report an average commute of 18.1 minutes, with 70.2% driving alone and 3.5% working from home. 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 St. Joseph'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 comparison shortlist to population change 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. Joseph, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
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. Joseph?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 18.1 minutes.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for St. Joseph?
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 Isanti (7,023 residents, $84,412 income); Spring Lake Park (6,997 residents, $77,112 income); Kasson (6,964 residents, $87,295 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Fort Pierce North, FL (7,023 residents); Frostburg, MD (7,025 residents); Morrilton, AR (7,022 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.
Is St. Joseph growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -223 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.2% 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.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
What can 37 Census tracts reveal inside St. Joseph?
PlainCities matches 37 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. Joseph?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 567.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 75% lower 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
567.2
Violent rate
119.4
Property rate
447.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in St. Joseph?
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 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.2×
Home value
$240,300
Household income
$75,217
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 10.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.6 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average
C-
City profile score · St. Joseph, MN
52/100
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 B-
119 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
30.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$75,217
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.
Poverty rate F
10.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
St. Joseph profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 66/100 (B-) · 119 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 58/100 (C) · 30.3%
Household income: 55/100 (C) · $75,217
Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.6%
Where St. Joseph sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
St. Joseph'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. Joseph highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
St. Joseph, MN (this city): home $240,300, crime 567/100k
Frostburg, MD : home $172,600, crime 115/100k
Morrilton, AR : home $150,900, crime 3,347/100k
Atherton, CA : home $2,000,000+, crime 1,386/100k
Isanti, MN : home $264,600, crime 570/100k
Spring Lake Park, MN : home $281,800, crime 2,098/100k
Kasson, MN : home $264,500, crime 513/100k
Medina, MN : home $660,800, crime 662/100k
Corcoran, MN : home $540,100, crime 520/100k
How does St. Joseph compare to other US cities?
Here's how St. Joseph stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income56% higher than other cities
Home value53% pricier than other cities
Median rent36% pricier than other cities
Safety83% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Minnesota alone, St. Joseph ranks #78 of 229 Minnesota cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares St. Joseph 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. Joseph near the bottom of Minnesota's cities
Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. Joseph ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. Joseph only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#301 of 775
61st percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#231 of 774
70th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#181 of 785
77th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#208 of 784
73rd 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
56th percentile nationally for median household income · 83rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
St. Joseph's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
St. Joseph'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. Joseph's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$240,30047th percentilemore affordable than 47% 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. Joseph's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,667 of 15,516
More affordable than 51% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,341 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.2×, St. Joseph sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,667 of 15,516 and #6,341 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
$75,217St. Joseph, MN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context St. Joseph, 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. Joseph, MN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)30.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)70.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,024
Median Income
$75,217
Median Home Value
$240,300
Median Age
23.9
Poverty Rate
10.6%
Labor force participation
70.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
30.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
567.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
119.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
447.8
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. Joseph's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,069 residents
2021
7,072 residents
2022
6,729 residents
2023
6,708 residents
2024
6,830 residents
2025
6,846 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
9
housing units authorized
Single-Family
9
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
78
24
54
$11.1M
2020
9
9
0
$2.3M
2021
8
8
0
$2.5M
2022
34
34
0
$7.3M
2023
56
6
50
$2.9M
2024
9
9
0
$4.2M
Permit volume decreased 88% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
18.1 minutes
Drive Alone
70.2%
Carpool
9.9%
Public Transit
2.5%
Walk
11.6%
Work from Home
3.5%
Other
2.3%
Based on 3,966 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. Joseph. 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. Joseph 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. Joseph sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How St. Joseph 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.