Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,198, settled in 1856.
Few places in the country grade higher. Carver earns an A, 40th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns. The median household earns $148K, residents are healthier than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and its schools rank ahead of 86% of Minnesota towns. Its lowest mark, a B−, is in cost of living. 42% of the land in Carver is conserved, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 4.6% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Only 9 of Minnesota’s 575 towns score higher on the outdoors. Carver's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 87% of U.S. towns.
Where Carver beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Carver | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.2% | 8.9% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Carver Elementary School | K–5 | 782 |
3,724 counted in 2010 and 5,829 in 2020; an estimated 7,198 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 35% since 2020, after 56.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Carver is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 724 in 1860, a low of 427 in 1930, 5,829 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 2 maps from 1905 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Carver. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
9 mi Theme parkValleyfair
23 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
25 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
12 mi LakeLake Minnetonka
29 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino ArenaU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Valleyfair: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clumpinglitter/, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Minnetonka: Dan, CC BY 2.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Carver, 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 Carver.
Carver keeps more of its land conserved than most of Minnesota, has less tooth loss than most of Minnesota and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota.
Its 1,360 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 99% of Minnesota towns.
8.0 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. At 1.6 miles per square mile, Carver’s trail density is against 0.5 in Minnesota’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, at 714 acres with 2.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge | 2.7 mi | 714 |
| 2. Carver Highlands Wildlife Management Area | 0.7 mi | 63 |
| 3. Community Park | — | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Eastern Carver County Public School. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carver Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 782 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Minnesota is tooth loss: 4.2% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 8.9% statewide. Against the 2,907 U.S. towns with household incomes like Carver’s, it is healthier than 72%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
23% of Carver adults have high blood pressure. Among 271 Minnesota towns, just 8 have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Carver. 32% of Carver adults have obesity.
| Carver | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 31% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 12% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.2% | 10% | 12% |
| What stands out | Carver | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.2% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 3.8% | 5.9% |
| More binge drinkers | 21.1% | 17.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Carver home is worth about $501,000, up 2.1% in a year, 44% above the Minnesota typical home. 93% of households own their home in Carver.
| Carver | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,379 a month | $1,192 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Carver has 728 jobs for its 2,987 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 30.6 minutes, against 22.7 across Minnesota.
Most working residents leave Carver for work: only 3% work in town. Carver’s average trip to work is 31 minutes. Jobs based in Carver grew to 728 in 2023, 529 more than in 2013.
| Carver | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $148,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.5% | 7.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.3% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons average 82.5°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 90% of Minnesota places with climate records; January nights average 6.3°.
Carver has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The January low in Carver is 6°F. About 52 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Carver | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 16 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Carver.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Carver
About 3 of every 100 Carver residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
41.8% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
City in Minnesota, United States
Carver is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States. Located along the Minnesota River, the population was 5,829 at the 2020 census. The city is named after early explorer Jonathan Carver.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Carver.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carver | #40 | A | B− | — | A | A |
| Dahlgren Township | — | — | C | — | A | A |
| Louisville Township | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | A− |
| Chaska | #33 | A+ | C | A− | A | A |
| San Francisco Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Dahlgren Township and Louisville Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Carver, Dahlgren Township and Louisville Township report no FBI crime data of their own. San Francisco Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Carver with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Carver grades A overall, better than 95% of U.S. towns and #40 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A for health and A for schools.
That is 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 B−.
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