Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Cottage Grove earns an A, 50th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns. The median household earns $121K, it is healthier than 88% of U.S. towns, and its public schools beat 79% of Minnesota towns on state tests and graduation. Its lowest mark, a C, is in cost of living. Cottage Grove’s median rent is $1,783 a month, above both Minnesota’s towns ($1,192 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Cottage Grove has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Cordenio Severance House and John P. Furber House.
Where Cottage Grove beats most towns.
34,589 counted in 2010 and 38,839 in 2020; an estimated 43,604 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 12.3% since 2020, after 12.3% 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 Cottage Grove is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1843, comes before those of 98% of the Minnesota towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 13,419 in 1970, 38,839 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1871 and 6 maps from 1946 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cottage Grove. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
13 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
19 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
21 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
16 mi Theme parkNickelodeon Universe
14 mi LandmarkFort SnellingU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nickelodeon Universe: Tyler Vigen, CC BY 4.0 · Fort Snelling: en:User:The Statue With The Dictionary, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cottage Grove, 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 Cottage Grove.
Cottage Grove sees little violent crime, has added half again as many jobs in ten years and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota.
27% of Cottage Grove adults sleep under 7 hours. Cottage Grove beats the Minnesota average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 10% of Cottage Grove adults report frequent physical distress.
| Cottage Grove | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Cottage Grove | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.3% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the South Washington County Schools. Three of its 15 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottage Grove Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,005 | C+ |
| Park High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,992 | B |
| Cottage Grove ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 432 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 28 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
Cottage Grove’s violent crime rate is 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Cottage Grove | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.2 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
17 miles of trail in 32 parks and preserves. Cottage Grove Ravine Park, at 545 acres with 4.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Cottage Grove | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.3% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cottage Grove Ravine Park | 4.1 mi | 545 |
| 2. Grey Cloud Dunes SNA | 2.8 mi | 278 |
| 3. Shepard Farm | 1.7 mi | 137 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here grew from 5,407 in 2013 to 10,552.
Most working residents leave Cottage Grove for work: only 11% work in town. 21% of workers work from home in Cottage Grove. Since 2013, Cottage Grove has added 5,145 jobs, to 10,552 in 2023.
| Cottage Grove | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 21% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $121,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 7.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 9.7% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities. Since 1997, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cottage Grove.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Farmington 3 Nw weather station, 16 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 7°.
Cottage Grove has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The January low in Cottage Grove is 7°F.
| Cottage Grove | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 7°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Cottage Grove home is worth about $397,000, up 1.7% in a year, 14% above the Minnesota typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Minnesota average. Cottage Grove has grown 12% since 2020, to 43,604 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 41% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| Cottage Grove | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 33% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 36.5 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 25% | 23% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.4 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 36.3, men 36.6.
| Cottage Grove | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.5% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.9% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.8% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.9% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.4% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.4% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.9% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.9% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.6% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.3% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.4% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.6% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.3% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
6 within 15 miles of the center of Cottage Grove
About 5 of every 100 Cottage Grove residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
Where Cottage Grove’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Cottage Grove on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Cottage Grove.
City in Minnesota, United States
Cottage Grove is a city 10 miles (16 km) south of Saint Paul in Washington County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It lies on the north bank of the Mississippi River, north of the confluence with the St. Croix River. Cottage Grove and nearby suburbs form the southeast portion of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.69 million residents. Its population was 38,839 at the 2020 census. The city is linked by U.S. Highways 10 and 61 and has a comfortable commute to both downtowns and the I-494 Strip in Bloomington. Once a rural township known for the state's first creameries and wheat production, the area was served by rail lines, river ship…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Cottage Grove.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cottage Grove | #50 | A | C | A− | A− | A |
| Grey Cloud Island Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nininger Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| St. Paul Park | #77 | A | B− | B | A− | B+ |
| Denmark Township | — | — | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Rosemount | #13 | A+ | C+ | A | A− | A |
| Woodbury | #92 | A | C− | B | A− | A+ |
| Inver Grove Heights | #89 | A | C+ | C+ | B+ | A |
Denmark Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Denmark Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Grey Cloud Island Township and Nininger Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Cottage Grove with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Cottage Grove grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #50 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A for health, A− for safety and A− for schools.
That is 4 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 Seann William Scott and Kendall Brown.
