Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Austin gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $188K, 2.6 years of the Austin area’s $73K median household income. It grades C overall, 250th of 271 graded towns in Minnesota. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 80% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the plus side, it has 13 miles of trail. 57% of working residents work locally in Austin, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 9.7% and U.S. towns at 8%. Only 49 of Minnesota’s 572 towns score lower on health. Austin is home to Riverland Community College.
Where Austin beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Austin is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 200 in 1860, 26,174 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 2 maps from 1954 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Austin, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Austin.
Austin has homes that are cheap against local pay and has a shorter frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Minnesota (mostly inland flooding).
The trail density in Austin is 1.0 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Jay C Hormel Nature Center, 339 acres with 10.1 miles of trail.
| Austin | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.4% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jay C Hormel Nature Center | 10.1 mi | 339 |
| 2. Mower County Fairgrounds | 0.7 mi | 44 |
| 3. Dresner Disc golf park | 0.4 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Austin Public School District. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellis MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 726 | D |
| Austin Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,485 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
At 2.6 years of the Austin area’s $73K median household income, the typical home (about $188K) costs less against local pay than in 94% of Minnesota towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
Austin’s median rent is $953 a month. The typical Austin home is worth about $188,000, up 2.9% in a year, 46% below the Minnesota typical home.
| Austin | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $953 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of Minnesota towns, with expected losses of about $372 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 596 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 30 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, 596 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Austin. Among 274 Minnesota towns, just 10 have a higher FEMA risk score than Austin.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Austin Waste Wtp Facility weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 158 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 77% of Minnesota places with climate records. January nights average 6.1°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 81% of Minnesota places with climate records; July afternoons average 81.2°.
Austin has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Austin | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 81°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
5.3% of workers work from home in Austin. Since 2013, Austin has lost 1,486 jobs, to 11,801 in 2023. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in Austin.
| Austin | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 5.3% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
31% of Austin adults get no exercise outside work. Austin beats the Minnesota average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 17% of Austin adults smoke cigarettes.
| Austin | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 23% | 25% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 7.3% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 11% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Austin | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 12.9% | 7.5% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 18.6% | 11.4% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 8.4% | 5.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Austin
About 4 of every 100 Austin residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
3 places in Austin on the National Register of Historic Places.
30 notable people were born in Austin.
City in Minnesota, United States
Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Pond. It was named for Austin R. Nichols, the area's first European settler. It is part of the Rochester–Austin combined statistical area. Hormel Foods Corporation is Austin's largest employer, and the city is sometimes called "SPAM Town USA". Austin is home to Hormel's corporate headquarters, a factory that makes most of North America's SPAM tinned meat, and the Spam Museum. Austin is also home to the Hormel Institute, a leading cancer research institution …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Austin.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin · Austin Township | #250 | C | A− | C+ | C | C+ |
| Lansing Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mapleview | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Windom Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Red Rock Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Lansing Township, Mapleview, Windom Township and Red Rock Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Austin Township and Austin are one community, graded once. Compare Austin with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Austin grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #250 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
30 notable people were born here, including Tim O'Brien and John Madden.
