Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Mankato Township’s subject grades are a B+ for health and a B for incomes; the weakest is a C− for cost of living. On cost of living, just 25 of Minnesota’s 573 towns do worse. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. Among 274 Minnesota towns, just 10 have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Mankato Township. The biggest park or preserve is Red Jacket Valley Park, at 129 acres. Mankato Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Mankato Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Mankato Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,482 in 1870, 44,488 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 2 maps from 1950 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mankato Township, 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 Mankato Township.
The share of adults in Mankato Township who worry about having enough food: 15%. Against the Minnesota average, Mankato Township comes out ahead on 5 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 7. Among adults here, 19% report frequent mental distress, against 16% in Minnesota’s towns and 17% across U.S. towns. 28% of adults in the town have high blood pressure; 27% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Mankato Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Mankato Township | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.6% | 8.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.3% | 22.3% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 10% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Mankato Township: 21% of residents are 65 or older. Adults 18 to 34 are 12% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (38% statewide). The age of the median resident here is 44.5 years. 44% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| Mankato Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 33% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.5 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 24% | 23% | 22% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Mankato Township | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.7% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.2% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.1% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.2% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.1% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.2% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.5% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.2% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.1% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.7% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.1% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.8% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.5% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.8% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
Winters in Mankato Township are cold, snowy and summers pleasant. Summer afternoons peak near 82° in July, and January nights bottom out around 7°; snowfall runs to about 39 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Employers in Mankato Township added 196 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 626. For most workers, Mankato Township is a place to come home to: only 1% work in town. The typical journey to work for Mankato Township comes to 17 minutes, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 23 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Its typical household income is $113,000.
| Mankato Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $113,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 11% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The FEMA risk score for Mankato Township comes to 61 of 100. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. FEMA puts 43% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 32% to cold waves. Paid flood insurance claims in the town since 1979: 5.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1.3 miles of trail wind through 3 parks and preserves. For Mankato Township, the trail network density is 0.1 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves here: 3, covering 148 acres.
| Mankato Township | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Red Jacket Valley Park | — | 129 |
| 2. Rasmussen Woods | — | 10 |
| 3. Red Jacket Trail Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Mankato Township
About 6 of every 100 Mankato Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
City in Minnesota, United States
Mankato ( man-KAY-toh) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County. It is the 21st-largest city in Minnesota and fourth-largest outside of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area, with a population of 44,488 at the 2020 census. The Mankato metropolitan area has an estimated 105,000 residents. Mankato lies along a large bend of the Minnesota River at its confluence with the Blue Earth River. The city is home to Minnesota State University, the state's second-largest university by enrollment.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Mankato Township.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mankato Township | — | — | C− | — | B | B+ |
| Mankato | #239 | C+ | C | C− | B | B+ |
| South Bend Township | — | — | B | — | B | B+ |
| Skyline | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eagle Lake | #167 | B+ | C | — | B | A |
| Decoria Township | — | — | C | — | B+ | B+ |
| North Mankato | #98 | A− | B | B | B | A |
| Lime Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Mankato Township, South Bend Township and Decoria Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Mankato Township, South Bend Township, Eagle Lake and Decoria Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Skyline and Lime Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Mankato Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.