Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Orono earns an A, 56th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally, its schools rank ahead of 98% of Minnesota towns, and the median household earns $174K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.1 million, 11.5 years of the Minneapolis metro’s $100K median household income. 72% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Orono, above both Minnesota’s towns (33%) and U.S. towns (29%). On hazard risk, just 51 of Minnesota’s 575 towns do better. Noerenberg Estate Barn is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Orono beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Orono | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.1% | 11.4% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Orono Intermediate Elementary | 3–5 | 663 |
| Schumann Elementary | PK–2 | 611 |
| Children's Workshop Montessori School | PK–K | 74 |
7,437 counted in 2010 and 8,315 in 2020; an estimated 8,301 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 11.8% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Orono is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 872 in 1890, 8,315 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 4 maps from 1905 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Orono. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaU.S. Bank Stadium
in town LakeLake Minnetonka
15 mi Stadium & arenaTarget Field
18 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Stadium
13 mi Theme parkValleyfair
24 mi Stadium & arenaGrand Casino ArenaU.S. Bank Stadium: Darb02, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Minnetonka: Dan, CC BY 2.0 · Target Field: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Huntington Bank Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Valleyfair: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clumpinglitter/, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Grand Casino Arena: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Orono, 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 Orono.
Orono has schools in the top 5% of Minnesota and has a shorter frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Minnesota.
At 11.5 years of the Minneapolis metro’s $100K median household income, the typical home (about $1.15M) costs more against local pay than in any other Minnesota town; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. Home values rose 30% in five years, to about $1.15M, against 14% across Minnesota.
The typical Orono home is worth about $1,147,000, up 6.4% in a year, 3 times the Minnesota typical home. Orono’s median rent is $1,818 a month.
| Orono | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,818 a month | $1,192 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 91% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A+ ranks #1 of the 274 Minnesota towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.15M.
Its public schools are run by the Orono Public School District. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Orono Senior High, with 961 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orono MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 720 | A |
| Orono Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 961 | A |
| Orono Intermediate ElementaryTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 663 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Minnesota is food insecurity: 6.1% of its 6,344 adults worry about having enough food, against 11.4% statewide.
24% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Orono. Among 271 Minnesota towns, just 10 have a lower share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Orono. 8.9% of adults smoke cigarettes in Orono.
| Orono | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 30% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.3% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Orono | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.1% | 11.4% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.4% | 7.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 128 to 74 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Orono is 2.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Orono | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
11 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Baker Park Reserve, 282 acres with 1 miles of trail.
| Orono | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.4% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wood-Rill SNA | 3.6 mi | 207 |
| 2. Baker Park Reserve | 1 mi | 282 |
| 3. Wolsfeld Woods SNA | 0.8 mi | 40 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
31.5% of workers work from home, against 17.6% across Minnesota.
Only 6 of the 273 Minnesota towns we compare have a higher median household income than Orono. Since 2013, Orono has added 280 jobs, to 1,916 in 2023. Most working residents leave Orono for work: only 4% work in town.
| Orono | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $174,000 | $90,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.2% | 9.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.2% | 7.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Orono.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Chanhassen Wsfo weather station, 8 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 160 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 84% of Minnesota places with climate records.
Orono has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 6° and about 55 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
7 within 15 miles of the center of Orono
About 6 of every 100 Orono residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Minnesota.
Where Orono’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Rural city in Minnesota, United States
Orono ( OR-ə-noh, OR-noh) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is a suburb of Minneapolis about 16 miles (26 km) west of Lake Minnetonka's north shore. The population was 8,315 at the 2020 census. Orono is the largest municipality by area on Lake Minnetonka and is largely residential.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Orono.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orono | #56 | A | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Wayzata | #59 | A | D− | B− | A+ | A+ |
| Spring Park | — | — | D | — | A+ | A− |
| Village of Minnetonka Beach | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Medina | #11 | A+ | C | A | A+ | A+ |
| Tonka Bay | — | — | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Mound | #18 | A+ | B− | — | A+ | A |
| Shorewood | #47 | A | D | — | A+ | A+ |
Spring Park and Tonka Bay have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Mound and Shorewood report no FBI crime data of their own. Village of Minnetonka Beach isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Orono with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Orono grades A overall, better than 92% of U.S. towns and #56 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades A+ for health, A− for safety and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. 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 D.
2 notable people were born here, including Ashley Allen and Whitney MacMillan.
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