Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Cannon Falls is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A− overall, ranked 128th of 271 in Minnesota, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $84K. It also does better than most on schools: its schools rank ahead of 75% of Minnesota towns. A typical home there costs about $285K, 3.4 years of the Red Wing area’s $84K median household income. On hazard risk, just 27 of Minnesota’s 575 towns do worse. Cannon Falls is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. Only 15 of Minnesota’s 574 towns score higher on history.
Where Cannon Falls beats most towns.
Cannon Falls SchoolEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Cannon Falls is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 3 maps from 1974 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cannon Falls, 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 Cannon Falls.
Cannon Falls pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Minnesota norm and trades workers with St. Paul and other neighbors, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Minnesota (mostly inland flooding).
Its public schools are run by the Cannon Falls Public School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Cannon Falls Secondary, with 536 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cannon Falls ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 519 | B+ |
| Cannon Falls SecondaryLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 536 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Minnesota towns, with expected losses of about $820 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
At 78 of 100, Cannon Falls’ FEMA risk score is above both Minnesota’s towns (39 of 100) and U.S. towns (44 of 100). Since 1986, 12 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cannon Falls.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Farmington 3 Nw weather station, 17 miles away, records that 41 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 80% of Minnesota places with climate records. July afternoons average 82.2°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 81% of Minnesota places with climate records; January nights average 6.3°.
Cannon Falls has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. At 6°F, Cannon Falls’ January low is where Minnesota’s towns sit at 6°F and U.S. towns at 22°F.
| Cannon Falls | 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
Within Minnesota it is less healthy than 67% of the 271 graded towns: Minnesota sets a high bar.
Cannon Falls beats the Minnesota average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 29% of Cannon Falls adults feel lonely.
| Cannon Falls | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 75% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Cannon Falls | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.5% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Cannon Falls grades A− overall with a typical home of about $285K, below the Minnesota typical value; only 39 of the 123 Minnesota towns graded A− or better can say that.
The typical Cannon Falls home is worth about $285,000, up 1% in a year, 18% below the Minnesota typical home.
| Cannon Falls | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 73% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,161 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Cannon Falls has about as many jobs (2,047) as working residents, but only 432 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Cannon Falls’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Cannon Falls has added 159 jobs, to 2,047 in 2023. The top destinations are St.
| Cannon Falls | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 9.7% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.1% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 9.2% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
0.5 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. The trail density in Cannon Falls is 0.1 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Gemini Aquatic Management Area, at 23 acres.
| Cannon Falls | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.7% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hannah's Bend Park | 0.4 mi | 12 |
| 2. Gemini Aquatic Management Area | — | 23 |
| 3. Archie Swenson Softball Fields | — | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
2 within 15 miles of the center of Cannon Falls
About 3 of every 100 Cannon Falls residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
9 places in Cannon Falls on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Minnesota, United States
Cannon Falls Township is a township in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,236 at the 2000 census. Cannon Falls Township was organized in 1858, and named for the falls on the Cannon River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Cannon Falls.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannon Falls | #128 | A− | C+ | B | A− | B |
| Cannon Falls Township | — | — | C− | — | A− | B+ |
| Stanton Township | — | — | B | — | B+ | A− |
| Randolph Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Douglas Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hampton Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Cannon Falls Township and Stanton Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Cannon Falls Township and Stanton Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Randolph Township, Douglas Township and Hampton Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Cannon Falls with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Cannon Falls grades A− overall, better than 78% of U.S. towns and #128 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B for health, B for safety and A− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
