Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hastings gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $381K for a typical one, or 3.8 years of the Minneapolis metro’s $100K median household income. It grades A overall, ranked 69th of 271 in Minnesota. On the plus side, the median household earns $94K. 13% of the land in Hastings is conserved, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 4.6% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Its National Register listings include William G. Le Duc House and Fasbender Clinic Building.
Where Hastings beats most towns.
Its 16 National Register listings are more than in 95% of Minnesota towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,653 in 1860, 22,154 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1818 and 3 maps from 1974 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Hastings is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hastings. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
19 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino Arena
25 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
27 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
21 mi Theme parkNickelodeon Universe
20 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 Hastings, 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 Hastings.
Hastings has seen reported crime fall by a third or more and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota.
Hastings beats the Minnesota average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 29% of Hastings adults sleep under 7 hours, against 30% in Minnesota’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns. 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in Hastings.
| Hastings | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 75% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Hastings | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 11.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.9% | 9.3% |
| More adults with arthritis | 24.6% | 22.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Hastings Public School District. Three of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 1,183 | C+ |
| Hastings High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,301 | B+ |
| Kennedy ElementaryTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 461 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
About one in 4 of Hastings’s working residents works in town. 5.4% of Hastings residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are St.
| Hastings | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 9.7% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.4% | 7.1% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
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 82.5°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 90% of Minnesota places with climate records; January nights average 6.8°.
Hastings has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Hastings’ January low is 7°F.
| Hastings | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 7°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2.7 miles of trail in 27 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Gores Aquatic Management Area, at 241 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hastings Sand Coulee Scientific and Natural Area | 0.6 mi | 27 |
| 2. Cari Park | 0.3 mi | 4 |
| 3. Gores Aquatic Management Area | — | 241 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 287 to 207 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 20 reported in 2025, 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 24 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hastings.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| Hastings | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 23% | 22% |
48% women, 52% men
About 110 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.7 points). Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 42.0, men 39.5.
| Hastings | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.4% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.1% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.2% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.1% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.5% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.5% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.7% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.6% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.7% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.7% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.4% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.5% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Hastings home is worth about $381,000, up 3.1% in a year, 9% above the Minnesota typical home.
| Hastings | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 76% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,183 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Hastings
About 4 of every 100 Hastings residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
16 places in Hastings on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Hastings.
City in Minnesota, United States
Hastings ( HAY-stings) is a city mostly in Dakota County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat, with a portion in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. It is near the confluence of the Mississippi, Vermillion, and St. Croix Rivers. The population was 22,154 at the 2020 census. It is named for the first elected governor of Minnesota, Henry Hastings Sibley. The advantages of Hastings's location that led to its original growth are that it is well-drained, provides a good riverboat port, and is close to a hydropower resource at the falls of the Vermillion River. Other sites closer to the river confluence are either too swampy (Dakota County) or too hilly (Washington County and Pierc…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Hastings.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings | #69 | A | B | B | B+ | A− |
| Nininger Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Denmark Township | — | — | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Marshan Township | — | — | B | — | B+ | A− |
| Ravenna Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | A− |
Denmark Township, Marshan Township and Ravenna Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Denmark Township, Marshan Township and Ravenna Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Nininger Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hastings with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Hastings grades A overall, better than 91% of U.S. towns and #69 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A− for health, B for safety and B+ for schools.
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 B.
15 notable people were born here, including Derek Stepan and Mark Steven Johnson.
