Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,763, settled in 1882. A regional job hub with 3,071 jobs.
Mora gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $234K, 3.3 years of the county’s $71K median household income. It grades B overall, 192nd of 271 graded towns in Minnesota. On the plus side, its schools outperform 78% of the state's. 34% of working residents work locally in Mora, above both Minnesota’s towns (9.7%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 23 of Minnesota’s 574 towns score higher on walkability. Mora has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Kanabec County Courthouse and C. E. Williams House.
Where Mora beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Mora Elementary School | PK–6 | 862 |
| Mora Middle Level Alc | 6–8 | 12 |
| Mora High School | 7–12 | 743 |
Where Mora’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 Mora is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 785 in 1900, 3,665 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 3 maps from 1968 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mora, 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 Mora.
Mora pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and draws workers from Arthur Township and beyond.
3,071 jobs are based in Mora, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Mora’s working residents works in town. 17% of Mora residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Cambridge (6%), Hinckley (3%) and Duluth (2%).
| Mora | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A− for schools comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $234K.
Its public schools are run by the Mora Public Schools. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Mora High School, with 743 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mora Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 862 | A− |
| Mora High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 743 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $234K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 21 miles.
The median rent in Mora is $788 a month. The typical Mora home is worth about $234,000, up 2.1% in a year, 33% below the Minnesota typical home. 61% of households own their home in Mora.
| Mora | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $788 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 6,652 U.S. towns with household incomes like Mora’s, it is healthier than 62%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Only 5 of the 271 Minnesota towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Mora. Mora beats the Minnesota average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16.
| Mora | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 23% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 10% | 12% |
| What stands out | Mora | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80% | 76.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.7% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Mora | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Library Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Mora has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Mora’s July high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1984, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mora.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Mora; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Mora residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
3 places in Mora on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Minnesota, United States
Mora is a city and the county seat of Kanabec County, Minnesota. It is at the junction of Minnesota highways 23 and 65 and is along the Snake River. The population was 3,665 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Mora.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mora | #192 | B | B | — | A− | C |
| Arthur Township | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | C+ |
Arthur Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Mora and Arthur Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Mora with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Mora grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #192 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades C for health and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
2 notable people were born here, including Gladys Nordenstrom and Dan Severson.
