Photo: Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA · CC BY 2.0Measured against area pay, Hastings costs less to live in than 65% of U.S. towns
It ranks #66 of 273 in Minnesota for affordability. Up 3.1% in a year, 9% above the Minnesota typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area ($100K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade compares costs with what households across the Minneapolis metro earn ($100K, Census 2020–24). The typical home costs 3.2 years of metro income, and 43% of renters pay 30% or more of income for housing.
In dollars
- $381Ktypical home, 9% above the Minnesota typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $1,520a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 105prices across the Minneapolis metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 112)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 3.2 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$100K, Minneapolis-area income
- 14%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 43%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across Minnesota: 48%Census 2020–24
- 19%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What Hastings’ housing numbers say
About two in three homes sell above asking
In May, 60% of the homes that sold went for more than the asking price and 55% went under contract within two weeks. There were about 0.9 months of homes for sale at that pace, against 2.3 across Minnesota: 30 listings for 35 sales that month. Expect competition on well-priced homes. How fast homes sell ↓
A burst of building in 2022
Hastings permitted 227 new homes in 2022, 86% of them in buildings with two or more homes, against about 63 in a typical year of the past decade. 2025 came in at 36. New homes ↓
Most new homes are apartments and condos
Of the 797 homes permitted in Hastings’ past 10 years, 66% were in buildings with two or more homes, not single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for May 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Hastings’ grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Hastings is more affordable than 65% of U.S. towns, #66 of 273 in Minnesota. Home prices pull the grade down most; rent holds it up.
Prices here have kept pace with Minnesota: up 15.2% in five years, against 14.1% statewide (Zillow).
Up 3.1% in a year
About the same pace as Minnesota (2.3%).
Show as a table
| January | Hastings | Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $237,000 | $216,000 |
| 2018 | $252,000 | $231,000 |
| 2019 | $266,000 | $245,000 |
| 2020 | $280,000 | $257,000 |
| 2021 | $302,000 | $280,000 |
| 2022 | $337,000 | $311,000 |
| 2023 | $346,000 | $322,000 |
| 2024 | $356,000 | $329,000 |
| 2025 | $367,000 | $338,000 |
| 2026 | $377,000 | $346,000 |
| September 2026 | $381,000 | $349,000 |
A typical Hastings home worth $232K in October 2016 is worth about $381K today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
A strong seller's market
Homes are selling faster than new ones are listed: less than two months of supply. Well-priced homes can draw several offers.
Under ~4 months of supply favors sellers; over ~6 favors buyers.
Redfin Data Center, all residential sales, May 2026.
A year’s rent takes 14% of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Hastings’s own median, or type yours.
That covers a typical Hastings home, with $4K to spare.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,520 a month here, $790 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Hastings’s typical property tax (0.98% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,520
Renters already here pay a median of $1,183, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
36 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 36 new homes in Hastings in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $9.9 million to build. That's 1.6 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Minnesota (3.8). Over the past 10 years, Hastings has permitted 797 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Hastings's population fell by 18 even though 393 new homes were permitted. Homes are holding fewer people: households are getting smaller, or more homes are used part of the year. Across Minnesota: 2.2 new residents per new home.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 12 | 12 | 0 | $3.1 million |
| 2025 | 36 | 36 | 0 | $9.9 million |
| 2024 | 43 | 43 | 0 | $11.7 million |
| 2023 | 207 | 25 | 182 | $30.1 million |
| 2022 | 227 | 32 | 195 | $41 million |
| 2021 | 34 | 34 | 0 | $9 million |
| 2020 | 21 | 21 | 0 | $4.7 million |
| 2019 | 74 | 14 | 60 | $10.1 million |
| 2018 | 103 | 15 | 88 | $14.3 million |
| 2017 | 30 | 30 | 0 | $6.9 million |
| 2016 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $5 million |
| 2015 | 20 | 20 | 0 | $4.1 million |
| 2014 | 42 | 42 | 0 | $11 million |
| 2013 | 37 | 37 | 0 | $8.8 million |
| 2012 | 39 | 39 | 0 | $7.8 million |
| 2011 | 22 | 20 | 2 | $3.6 million |
| 2010 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $643,000 |
| 2009 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $2.1 million |
| 2008 | 46 | 8 | 38 | $5.7 million |
| 2007 | 75 | 59 | 16 | $8.9 million |
| 2006 | 169 | 161 | 8 | $22 million |
| 2005 | 244 | 109 | 135 | $31.1 million |
| 2004 | 346 | 213 | 133 | $43.8 million |
| 2003 | 386 | 257 | 129 | $50.1 million |
| 2002 | 346 | 151 | 195 | $39 million |
| 2001 | 308 | 111 | 197 | $28.6 million |
| 2000 | 135 | 115 | 20 | $18.7 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs below the Minnesota norm
The median bill is $3,160 (Minnesota: $3,357), 0.98% of a home’s value a year, against 1.02% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Hastings
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area, or Minnesota. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 105 | MN 99 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 103 | MN 101 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 93 | MN 91 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 104 | MN 100 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Hastings vs. its neighbors
Of the 1 towns here with a Zillow value, Hastings has the lowest. Denmark Township and Marshan Township and Ravenna Township and Nininger Township have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings | B | $381K | $322K | 0.98% | $1,520 |
| Nininger Township | – | — | $436K | 0.68% | $1,520 |
| Denmark Township | C | — | $638K | 0.71% | $1,540 |
| Marshan Township | B | — | $475K | 0.70% | $1,520 |
| Ravenna Township | B+ | — | $444K | 0.68% | $1,520 |
“—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents). “—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Hastings
Is Hastings expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Hastings costs less than 65% of U.S. towns: a B for cost of living, #66 of 273 in Minnesota. The typical home costs 3.2 years of the median household income of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area ($100K).
How much does a house cost in Hastings?
About $381K, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 3.0% in a year. The Minnesota typical home is $349K.
What salary do you need to live in Hastings?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $99,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $2,310 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $61,000.
How much is rent in Hastings?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $1,520 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,183 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Hastings?
The median bill is $3,160 a year, 0.98% of the median home value (Minnesota: $3,357, 1.02%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Hastings going up?
Yes: up 3.0% in the past year and 15.2% in five years, against 14.1% across Minnesota (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Hastings buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, May 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.