Rice LakeMN
A town of 4,169, settled in 1870.
Is Rice Lake a good place to live?
Rice Lake grades B− overall, ranked 214th of 271 in Minnesota, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $90K. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $310K, 4.3 years of the Duluth metro’s $72K median household income. Rice Lake’s July high is 77°F, where Minnesota’s towns sit at 82°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
What makes Rice Lake stand out
Where Rice Lake beats most towns.
93% of working residents leave Rice Lake for work
Where Rice Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Rice Lake grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Rice Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Rice Lake: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rice Lake, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Rice Lake.
Rice Lake gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Minnesota.
More than half of Rice Lake’s working residents commute to Duluth
Most working residents leave Rice Lake for work: only 7% work in town. Since 2013, Rice Lake has added 156 jobs, to 940 in 2023. Rice Lake’s average trip to work is 22 minutes.
| Rice Lake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.6% | 14% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.6% | 9.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.2% | 7% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Rice Lake’s schools rank ahead of 51% of Minnesota districts
Its public schools are run by the Duluth Public School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homecroft ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 448 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Residents of Rice Lake are healthier than 72% of U.S. towns
Within Minnesota it is less healthy than 55% of the 271 graded towns: Minnesota sets a high bar.
Rice Lake beats the Minnesota average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 20% of Rice Lake adults binge drink.
| Rice Lake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 30% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 75% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Rice Lake | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults sleeping under 7 hours | 33.9% | 29.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Rice Lake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.5% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rice Lake City Park | — | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Low risk in Rice Lake, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 2001, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rice Lake.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Rice Lake
The Duluth weather station, 6 miles away, records that 90 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 96% of U.S. towns. The Duluth weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 2 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 96% of U.S. towns.
Rice Lake has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The January low in Rice Lake is 1°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer young adults than Minnesota overall
Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (17% statewide). 20% of residents are under 18 in Rice Lake. 34% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| Rice Lake | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 17% | 18% |
| Median age | 44.3 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 33% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women.
| Rice Lake | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.6% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.1% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.7% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.4% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.2% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.9% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.3% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.6% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.7% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.4% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.5% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.5% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.9% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,200, single groups can be off by several points
Lake Superior Railroad Museum and 9 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rice Lake. Close and well known come first.
9 mi MuseumLake Superior Railroad Museum
9 mi Zoo & aquariumGreat Lakes Aquarium
9 mi MuseumDuluth Depot
36 mi State parkGooseberry Falls State Park
13 mi MuseumFairlawn Mansion13 mi Zoo & aquariumLake Superior ZooPhoto credits
Lake Superior Railroad Museum: User resedabear on Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Great Lakes Aquarium: Tmajewski, Public domain · Duluth Depot: Hikki Nagasaki, Public domain · Gooseberry Falls State Park: Chuck Kochmann, Copyrighted free use · Fairlawn Mansion: Nfarmakes, CC BY-SA 4.0
Everything we know about Rice Lake
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Rice Lake
About 4 of every 100 Rice Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
About Rice Lake
City in Minnesota, United States
Rice Lake is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,112 at the 2020 census. Main routes include Rice Lake Road (County Road 4) and Martin Road (County Road 9). Rice Lake Road runs north–south, and Martin Road runs east–west. Other routes include Howard Gnesen Road, Arnold Road, Calvary Road, West Tischer Road, and West Beyer Road.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1870
- Area
- 33 sq mi
Rice Lake’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Rice Lake.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Lake | #214 | B− | C− | — | B− | B+ |
| Duluth | #253 | C | C | C− | B− | B+ |
| Canosia Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
| Gnesen Township | — | — | D− | — | B− | A− |
Canosia Township and Gnesen Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Rice Lake, Canosia Township and Gnesen Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rice Lake with a neighbor →
Questions about Rice Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rice Lake, MN a good place to live?
Rice Lake grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #214 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B+ for health and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Rice Lake, MN expensive?
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−.