Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Gaylord’s subject grades are a B+ for cost of living and a B for civic life; the weakest is a C− for incomes. 28% of working residents work locally in Gaylord, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 9.8% and U.S. towns at 8%. On incomes, just 57 of Minnesota’s 574 towns do worse. Gaylord has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Gaylord City Park. Gaylord has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Gaylord beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Gaylord is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 387 in 1890, 2,273 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 2 maps from 1958 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gaylord, 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 Gaylord.
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The public schools here belong to the Sibley East School District. Enrollment at Gaylord’s public school: 503 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sibley East-Gaylord ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 503 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Gaylord: 58% of households live in a home they own. Typical home values rose 5.7% in the year to September 2026. The going rate for rent for Gaylord comes to $860 a month.
| Gaylord | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $860 a month | $1,196 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Gaylord after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2019. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in the town than in 70% of U.S. communities. 42% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 15%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Gaylord’s midsummer high stands at 82°F, against 82°F in Minnesota’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Nearly one in ten workers work remotely from home in Gaylord. In Gaylord, about one in four working residents works in town. Jobs in Gaylord grew by 660 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 1,470. For Gaylord, the income of the median household is $57,000.
| Gaylord | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.3% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The rate of thefts and burglaries in Gaylord is 4.3 per 1,000 residents. The violent crime rate in the town is 1.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Gaylord | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.3 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 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
The share of adults in Gaylord who have been diagnosed with depression: 23%. Of 32 CDC measures, Gaylord beats the Minnesota average on 1 and trails it on 13. Two figures for adults here: 39% have obesity, 30% sleep under 7 hours.
| Gaylord | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 23% | 25% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 7.3% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 36% |
| What stands out | Gaylord | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79% | 76.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 12.6% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The biggest park or preserve is Gaylord City Park, at 40 acres. Trails total 0.5 miles in 1 park or preserve. The town’s density of trails is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Gaylord City Park | 0.5 mi | 40 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Gaylord; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Gaylord residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
2 places in Gaylord on the National Register of Historic Places.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 3.4 years of the area's median household income ($77,634 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
