Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,625, settled in 1901.
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Its lowest grade is for health — residents are less healthy than 80% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Overall, Chisholm earns a C+, which places it 237th of 271 in Minnesota. It comes out better than 40% of U.S. towns. Its strongest is cost of living (A): a typical home costs about $138K, 1.9 years of the Duluth metro’s $72K median household income. Add walkability to its strengths: it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. The town’s trail network density is 2.0 miles per square mile, against 0.5 in Minnesota’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On history, just 52 of Minnesota’s 574 towns do better.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · OpenStreetMap · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Chisholm beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Chisholm is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 7,684 in 1910, a peak of 9,039 in 1920, 4,775 in 2020. The archive holds 26 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 2 maps from 1951 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chisholm, 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 Chisholm.
Chisholm has homes that are cheap against local pay and has colder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
In 2 parks and preserves, walkers have 9.3 miles of trail. Redhead Mountain Bike Park, at 386 acres with 3.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Only 10 of the 272 Minnesota towns we compare have a higher trail network density than Chisholm.
| Chisholm | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.0 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Redhead Mountain Bike Park | 3.6 mi | 386 |
| 2. Longyear Lake Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools: the Chisholm Public School District. Of its 3 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. 2 public schools serve Chisholm, with 433 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chisholm ElementaryLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 142 | B− |
| Chisholm SecondaryLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 291 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
At 1.9 years of the Duluth metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home (about $138K) costs less against local pay than in 99% of Minnesota towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The median property tax bill is $1,115, against $3,357 across Minnesota, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 4.6% in the year to September 2026. Chisholm’s midpoint rent stands at $732 a month. Also worth knowing: homes sold in Chisholm spent a median 43 days on the market.
| Chisholm | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $732 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The nearest emergency room, Cook Hospital, is 26.9 miles away in a straight line. Against the 6,103 U.S. towns with household incomes like Chisholm’s, it is less healthy than 53%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Two figures for adults in Chisholm: 16% report frequent physical distress, 14% have diabetes. Only 5 of the 271 Minnesota towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Chisholm. 29% of adults get no exercise outside work locally.
| Chisholm | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 10% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 16% | 19% |
| What stands out | Chisholm | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.6% | 8.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.7% | 5.4% |
| More smokers | 20.4% | 13.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here fell from 1,495 in 2013 to 1,066. The average commute for its 1,832 working residents takes 16.2 minutes, against 22.7 across Minnesota.
Chisholm had 1,066 jobs in 2023, down 429 from 2013. Among residents here, 14% live below the poverty line. One in 5 of the town’s working residents works locally. Its mean commuting time stands at 16 minutes.
| Chisholm | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 9.7% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 26.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 78% of Minnesota’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 118 to 57 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The rate of thefts and burglaries for Chisholm comes to 11 per 1,000 residents. The level of violent crime for Chisholm comes to 1.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Chisholm | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average -2°, colder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 77.7°.
Chisholm’s peak summer temperature is 78°F.
| Chisholm | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | -2°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 78°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Chisholm after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage here than in nearly two thirds of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 71% come from cold waves and 20% from inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chisholm. Close and well known come first.
4 mi MuseumGreyhound Bus Museum
38 mi State parkLake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park
in town MuseumMinnesota Discovery Center
37 mi MuseumForest History Center
16 mi City parkOlcott ParkGreyhound Bus Museum: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Minnesota Discovery Center: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Forest History Center: Laupeck, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Olcott Park: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Chisholm
About 2 of every 100 Chisholm residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
2 places in Chisholm on the National Register of Historic Places.
11 notable people were born in Chisholm.
City in Minnesota, United States
Chisholm is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,775 at the 2020 census. The city has been called "The Heart of the Iron Range" due to its location in the middle of the Mesabi Iron Range.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Chisholm.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chisholm | #237 | C+ | A | C | C+ | C− |
| Balkan Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Balkan Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Chisholm with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Chisholm grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #237 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades C− for health, C for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the 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.
11 notable people were born here, including John Shuster and Jim Oberstar.
