Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,836.
Bridgewater Township’s best subject grades are an A for incomes, schools, and health; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. Bridgewater Township’s median rent is $2,143 a month, against $1,196 a month in Minnesota’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Only 22 of Minnesota’s 573 towns score lower on cost of living. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 76% of U.S. towns. Cannon River Wilderness Park, at 653 acres with 4.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Bridgewater Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Bridgewater Township’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 Bridgewater Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 2 maps from 1960 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Bridgewater Township, 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 Bridgewater Township.
Bridgewater Township beats the Minnesota average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 11% of adults report frequent physical distress in Bridgewater Township, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 14%. 29% of adults feel lonely in Bridgewater Township.
| Bridgewater Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 19% |
| What stands out | Bridgewater Township | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.2% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults in fair or poor health | 13.4% | 16% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.7% of Bridgewater Township working residents work locally. Since 2013, Bridgewater Township has lost 91 jobs, to 113 in 2023. The median household income in Bridgewater Township is $121,000.
| Bridgewater Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $121,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.7% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.5% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 12% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 24% of residents (17% statewide). Bridgewater Township’s median age is 49.2 years. 48% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| Bridgewater Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.2 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 48% | 33% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 18% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 23% | 22% |
47% women, 53% men
About 115 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.1 points). Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women. Among residents 55 to 64, 64% are men (MN 50%).
| Bridgewater Township | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.4% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.8% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.5% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.2% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.5% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.5% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.2% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.8% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.1% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.4% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.3% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 24.5% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,800, single groups can be off by several points
Bridgewater Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 6° and about 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
10 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Bridgewater Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.6% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cannon River Wilderness Park | 4.3 mi | 653 |
| 2. Roosevelt Ridge Park West | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 2013, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bridgewater Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Bridgewater Township
About 3 of every 100 Bridgewater Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
Township in Minnesota, United States
Bridgewater Township is a township in Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,898 at the 2000 census. An elementary school in Northfield and a housing development in Dundas -- Bridgewater Heights—are named after the township. Both were built on land annexed from Bridgewater Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Bridgewater Township.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater Township | — | — | C− | — | A | A |
| Northfield · Northfield Township | #102 | A− | C | B− | A | A |
| Dundas | — | — | C− | B | A | A− |
| Forest Township | — | — | C+ | — | B− | B+ |
| Greenvale Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cannon City Township | — | — | C | — | C− | C+ |
Bridgewater Township, Dundas, Forest Township and Cannon City Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Bridgewater Township, Forest Township and Cannon City Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Greenvale Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Northfield Township and Northfield are one community, graded once. Compare Bridgewater Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.