Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,631, platted in 1866. 2.6 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Minnesota town.
Trash day: look up yoursGlenwood gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $236K, 3.1 years of the county’s $76K median household income. It grades A− overall, ranked 135th of 271 in Minnesota. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 71% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the plus side, its public schools beat 79% of Minnesota towns on state tests and graduation. 37% of working residents work locally in Glenwood, against 9.7% in Minnesota’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On walkability, just 21 of Minnesota’s 574 towns do better. Glenwood's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Where Glenwood beats most towns.
Where Glenwood’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Glenwood is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 627 in 1890, 2,657 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 2 maps from 1968 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Glenwood, 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 Glenwood.
Glenwood pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Minnesota norm and pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Minnesota (mostly inland flooding).
2,114 jobs are based in Glenwood, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one worker in three stays in Glenwood for work. For residents in the town, the share who live below the poverty line is 18%. Since 2013, Glenwood has added 219 jobs, to 2,114 in 2023. Also worth knowing: the average trip to work locally is 21 minutes.
| Glenwood | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $42,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
That grade comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $236K.
Public schools: the Minnewaska School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. 2 public schools serve Glenwood, with 349 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnewaska Area ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–3 | Grades K–3 | 317 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Glenwood grades A− overall with a typical home of about $236K, below the Minnesota typical value; only 39 of the 123 Minnesota towns graded A− or better can say that. 81.7% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.1% across Minnesota.
In Glenwood, just over two thirds of households live in a home they own. The typical Glenwood home is worth about $236,000, about the same as a year ago, 32% below the Minnesota typical home. The midpoint rent for Glenwood comes to $865 a month.
| Glenwood | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $865 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Glenwood’s property offense rate is 2.3 per 1,000 residents. For Glenwood, the rate of reported violence is 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Glenwood | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of Minnesota towns; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
64% of Glenwood’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 19%. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Glenwood after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2022.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 1.3°, colder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 81°.
Glenwood’s January low stands at 1°F. About 46 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Glenwood | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 1°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 81°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Trails total 1.6 miles in 5 parks and preserves. Barsness Park, at 185 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. In Glenwood, the trail network density is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Glenwood | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barsness Park | 1.3 mi | 185 |
| 2. Mt. Lookout Park | — | 7 |
| 3. Glenwood Beach park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 3,102 U.S. towns with household incomes like Glenwood’s, it is healthier than 94%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Minnesota it is less healthy than 82% of the 271 graded towns: Minnesota sets a high bar.
Among adults in Glenwood, 15% report frequent mental distress. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Glenwood is ahead of Minnesota on 1 and behind on 8. Two figures for adults locally: 39% have obesity, 30% sleep under 7 hours.
| Glenwood | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 36% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 10% | 12% |
| What stands out | Glenwood | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81% | 76.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.5% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Glenwood
About 3 of every 100 Glenwood residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
4 places in Glenwood on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Glenwood.
City in Minnesota, United States
Glenwood is a city in, and the county seat of, Pope County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2020 census. It is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Minnewaska.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Glenwood.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenwood | #135 | A− | B | B+ | A− | B− |
| Glenwood Township | — | — | C | — | A− | B− |
| Minnewaska Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Reno Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Long Beach | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Leven Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Glenwood Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Glenwood Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Minnewaska Township, Reno Township, Long Beach and Leven Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Glenwood with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Glenwood grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #135 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B− for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
4 notable people were born here, including Albert Sanders and Celius Dougherty.
