EskoMN
A town of 1,813, settled in 1935.
Is Esko a good place to live?
Esko’s typical journey to work is 16 minutes, against 23 minutes in Minnesota’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. We don’t grade Esko yet; the figures below are still real.
Esko has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
1,869 counted in 2010 and 2,082 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Moving to Esko: who provides what
Esko is unincorporated, so Carlton County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Esko.
Most of Esko’s workers commute out: the town has 0.3 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Esko for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Esko grew to 337 in 2023, 125 more than in 2013. For Esko, the income of the median household is $109,000. 3.5% of Esko residents live below the poverty line, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 7% and U.S. towns at 9.6%.
| Esko | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $109,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.5% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.5% | 9.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
High risk in Esko, with cold waves at the top
Paid flood insurance claims in Esko since 1985: 6. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 70% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 50% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to cold waves, and 44% to inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Esko, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Esko’s peak summer temperature stands at 78°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Esko’s typical home value is about $397K
In Esko, 87% of households own their home. Typical home values rose 3.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Esko | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 87% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,215 a month | $1,196 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
How healthy Esko is
29% of adults have high blood pressure in Esko. Two figures for adults in the town: 10% report frequent physical distress, 13% say their health is fair or poor.
| Esko | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 19% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Esko | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.8% | 11.4% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Esko has set aside 0.1% of its land for conservation
Among 273 Minnesota towns, just 8 have a lower share of conserved land than Esko. This Minnesota town has one park or preserve, 4 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Northridge Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Lake Superior Railroad Museum and 9 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Esko. Close and well known come first.
14 mi MuseumLake Superior Railroad Museum
14 mi Zoo & aquariumGreat Lakes Aquarium
14 mi MuseumDuluth Depot9 mi Zoo & aquariumLake Superior Zoo
13 mi MuseumFairlawn Mansion
14 mi MuseumLake Superior Maritime Visitor CenterPhoto credits
Lake Superior Railroad Museum: User resedabear on Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Great Lakes Aquarium: Tmajewski, Public domain · Duluth Depot: Hikki Nagasaki, Public domain · Fairlawn Mansion: Nfarmakes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0
Everything we know about Esko
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Esko
About 6 of every 100 Esko residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
96% of working residents leave Esko for work
Where Esko’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Esko
Census-designated place in Minnesota, US
Esko is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Thomson Township, Carlton County, Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,082. Esko is between Cloquet and Duluth at the junction of Interstate 35 and County Road 1 (Thomson Road). It is six miles east of Cloquet and 16 miles southwest of Duluth. Carlton County Road 61 serves as a main route in the community. Most Esko residents are descendants of Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish immigrants who settled the area in the early 20th century. The nearby community of Thomson also has a large Scandinavian presence.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 226 ft
- ZIP code
- 55733
Questions about Esko
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Esko, MN a good place to live?
We don’t grade Esko yet; the figures below are still real.