Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,767, founded in 1874. 82% more nonprofits per person than the typical Minnesota town.
Trash day: FridayBecause it does well by almost any measure. Barnesville earns an A+, 2nd among Minnesota's 271 graded towns. Its public schools beat 92% of Minnesota towns on state tests and graduation, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, and the median household earns $98K. The exception is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 80% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 32% of residents are under 18 in Barnesville, above both the Minnesota town median (23%) and the median of U.S. towns (22%). No town in Minnesota scores higher than Barnesville on civic life. Residents are healthier than 87% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates.
Where Barnesville beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Barnesville Elementary School | PK–6 | 490 |
| Barnesville High School | 7–12 | 380 |
Where Barnesville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Barnesville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,063 in 1890, 2,759 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 3 maps from 1919 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Barnesville, 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 Barnesville.
Barnesville pairs an A+ overall with homes cheaper than the Minnesota norm and pairs an A for schools with modest home prices, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Minnesota (mostly inland flooding).
Its A for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $307K.
Its public schools are run by the Barnesville Public School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Barnesville High School, with 380 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnesville Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 490 | A |
| Barnesville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 380 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
1.4 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. Barnesville’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Blue Eagle Park | 0.7 mi | 19 |
| 2. McGrath Park | 0.1 mi | 11 |
| 3. Reed Field | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The property crime rate in Barnesville is 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Barnesville | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The nearest emergency room, Essentia Health, is 22.4 miles away in a straight line.
20% of adults binge drink in Barnesville. Barnesville beats the Minnesota average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 11% of adults report frequent physical distress in Barnesville.
| Barnesville | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 75% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 19% |
| What stands out | Barnesville | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 5.9% | 7.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.3% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of Minnesota towns; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Only 10 of the 274 Minnesota towns we compare have a higher FEMA risk score than Barnesville.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
48% of working residents cross a state line to work, West Fargo among the top destinations. Jobs based here grew from 488 in 2013 to 694.
Most working residents leave Barnesville for work: only 13% work in town. 1.8% of Barnesville residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Barnesville has added 206 jobs, to 694 in 2023.
| Barnesville | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 1.8% | 7.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 6.8% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $98,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| Barnesville | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 32.7 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 18% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.5 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 32.2, men 33.6.
| Barnesville | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 18.9% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.1% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.5% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.3% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.4% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.3% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.5% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.2% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.4% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 18.9% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.4% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 22.7% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.4% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.3% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
January nights average -0.3°, colder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 81.3°.
Barnesville has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 50 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Barnesville grades A+ overall with a typical home of about $307K, below the Minnesota typical value; only 39 of the 123 Minnesota towns graded A− or better can say that. Homes are within reach (about $307K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 25 miles.
The typical Barnesville home is worth about $307,000, up 3% in a year, 12% below the Minnesota typical home.
| Barnesville | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $848 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 83% | 75% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Barnesville; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Barnesville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
City in Minnesota, United States
Barnesville is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,759 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 2,765 in 2024. It is part of the Fargo–Moorhead metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Barnesville.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnesville · Barnesville Township | #2 | A+ | A− | A | A | A |
| Humboldt Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Humboldt Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Barnesville Township and Barnesville are one community, graded once. Compare Barnesville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Barnesville grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #2 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A for health, A for safety and A for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. That is 4 years of the area's median household income ($76,756 across the Fargo, ND-MN metro 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−.