Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Brooklyn Park grades B overall, 199th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 76% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $90K. On the other side, its crime rate is higher than 81% of U.S. towns, with 283 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Brooklyn Park is home to North Hennepin Community College. Brooklyn Park is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Mississippi Gateway Regional Park, at 280 acres with 4.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Brooklyn Park beats most towns.
2 colleges in town.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Brooklyn Park is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1850, comes before those of 94% of the Minnesota towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 608 in 1860, 86,478 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 6 maps from 1902 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brooklyn Park. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
10 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
11 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
17 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
12 mi LakeBde Maka Ska
10 mi WaterfallSaint Anthony FallsU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bde Maka Ska: Tyler Vigen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Saint Anthony Falls: The original uploader was Mulad at English Wikipedia., Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Brooklyn Park, 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 Brooklyn Park.
Brooklyn Park has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more, has added a third more jobs in ten years and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota.
Reported crimes fell from 2,567 to 1,834 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
At 18.9 per 1,000 residents, Brooklyn Park’s property crime rate is above both Minnesota’s towns (8.6) and U.S. towns (9.9). The violent crime rate in Brooklyn Park is 3.4 per 1,000 residents. Brooklyn Park reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 81% report less.
| Brooklyn Park | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Two of its 37 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxbow Creek ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 1,114 | A |
| Champlin Park High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,978 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mississippi Gateway Regional Park | 4.4 mi | 280 |
| 2. Rush Creek Regional Trail | 1.6 mi | 96 |
| 3. Oak Grove Park | 0.8 mi | 84 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
37% of Brooklyn Park adults feel lonely, against 30% in Minnesota’s towns and 33% across U.S. towns. 29% of adults have obesity in Brooklyn Park. Brooklyn Park beats the Minnesota average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12.
| Brooklyn Park | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 30% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Brooklyn Park | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.1% | 8.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 18.2% | 22.3% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 15.1% | 9.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 21,200 in 2013 to 29,073.
Most working residents leave Brooklyn Park for work: only 10% work in town. Since 2013, Brooklyn Park has added 7,873 jobs, to 29,073 in 2023. Brooklyn Park’s average trip to work is 21 minutes.
| Brooklyn Park | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 15% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 9.5% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons average 82.4°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 88% of Minnesota places with climate records; January nights average 6°.
Brooklyn Park has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 54 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Brooklyn Park | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Children under 18 are 28% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 13% of residents (17% statewide). Brooklyn Park has lost 3.4% of its people since 2020, down to 83,543 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 33% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| Brooklyn Park | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 28% | 23% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 35.2 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.2 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.4, men 33.2.
| Brooklyn Park | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.1% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.9% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.7% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.9% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.1% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.8% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.7% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.8% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.3% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.8% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.1% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.9% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.9% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1997, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Brooklyn Park.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Brooklyn Park home is worth about $345,000, up 0.5% in a year, close to the Minnesota typical home.
| Brooklyn Park | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,325 a month | $1,192 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 75% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
21 within 15 miles of the center of Brooklyn Park
About 7 of every 100 Brooklyn Park residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
75,781 counted in 2010 and 86,478 in 2020; an estimated 83,543 in 2025.
Since 2020 the trend has turned: down 3.4%, after 14.1% growth in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
7 notable people were born in Brooklyn Park.
City in Minnesota, United States
Brooklyn Park is a suburban city on the west bank of the Mississippi River, upstream from (north of) the Twin Cities in northern Hennepin County. It is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 86,478 at the 2020 census. The city still has undeveloped land and farms, including the historic Eidem Homestead, a 1900s working farm that is a popular tourist attraction for families and school field trips. Brooklyn Park is considered both a second- and third-tier suburb of Minneapolis, because much of the land north of 85th Avenue was developed after 2000. WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Jesse Ventura served as mayor of Brooklyn Park from 1991 to 1995. He was elected gove…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Brooklyn Park.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Park | #199 | B | C+ | C− | B | A− |
| Brooklyn Center | #261 | C | B− | D | C+ | B |
| Coon Rapids | #174 | B+ | B− | C+ | B+ | B |
| Fridley | #251 | C | B− | D | C+ | B |
| Osseo | #191 | B | C+ | C+ | B− | A |
| Maple Grove | #161 | B+ | C | B− | B− | A+ |
| Champlin | #91 | A | C | B | B+ | A |
| New Hope | #231 | C+ | C | C+ | C | A− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Brooklyn Park grades B overall, better than 57% of U.S. towns and #199 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A− for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 3.5 years of the area's median household income ($99,833 across the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 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 C+.
7 notable people were born here, including Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Travis Morin.
