Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,888, settled in 1859.
Melrose is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A− overall, 118th of 271 graded towns in Minnesota, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on schools: its schools rank ahead of 66% of Minnesota towns. A typical home there costs about $232K, 3 years of the St. Cloud metro’s $76K median household income. Church of St. Boniface is on the National Register of Historic Places. Only 7 of the 273 Minnesota towns we compare have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Melrose. The biggest park or preserve is Sauk River Park, at 22 acres.
Where Melrose beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Melrose is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 780 in 1890, a low of 780 in 1890, 3,602 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 2 maps from 1965 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Melrose, 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 Melrose.
Melrose pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Minnesota norm and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Melrose’s property crime rate is 1 per 1,000 residents, against 8.7 in Minnesota’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. The violent crime rate in Melrose is 2.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Melrose | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Melrose Public School District. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Melrose Secondary, with 505 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melrose ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 512 | B |
| Melrose SecondaryLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 505 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Melrose grades A− overall with a typical home of about $232K, below the Minnesota typical value; only 39 of the 123 Minnesota towns graded A− or better can say that. At 3 years of the St. Cloud metro’s $76K median household income, the typical home (about $232K) costs less against local pay than in 88% of Minnesota towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 2.1% in the year to September 2026.
| Melrose | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,103 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 75% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Melrose has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Melrose’s July high is 81°F, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 82°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Melrose | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 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. Sauk River Park | 0.5 mi | 22 |
| 2. Meadowlark Park | 0.2 mi | 2 |
| 3. Utility Plant Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
About one in 4 of Melrose’s working residents works in town. Melrose’s median household income is $60,000. Jobs based in Melrose fell to 1,986 in 2023, 468 fewer than in 2013.
| Melrose | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 9.7% | 8% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.5% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 8,825 U.S. towns with household incomes like Melrose’s, it is healthier than 83%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income. Within Minnesota it is less healthy than 77% of the 271 graded towns: Minnesota sets a high bar.
Melrose beats the Minnesota average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 13% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Melrose.
| Melrose | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 7.3% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 23% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 75% | 79% |
| What stands out | Melrose | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 12.7% | 7.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.2% | 8.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 14.7% | 11.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Melrose; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Melrose residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
12 notable people were born in Melrose.
City in Minnesota, United States
Melrose is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,602 at the 2020 census. It is part of the St. Cloud metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Melrose.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melrose · Melrose Township | #118 | A− | B | A− | B+ | B |
| Grove Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Grove Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Melrose Township and Melrose are one community, graded once. Compare Melrose with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Melrose grades A− overall, better than 80% of U.S. towns and #118 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools.
Cloud, MN 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.
12 notable people were born here, including Walter Breuning and Paul Ellering.