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The Rost Township handbook

Living in Rost Township, MN: what to set up and who to call

Power in Rost Township comes from Federated Rural Electric Assn, a cooperative utility rather than a private company. Most homes in Rost Township have two wired internet choices, Federated Rural Electric Association and Frontier.

I’m new in town

What to set up in Rost Township, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.

Home services

Power, water and internet

Who to call to start service at a new address in Rost Township.

Electricity

Power comes from Federated Rural Electric Assn

Federated Rural Electric Assn (Federated Rural Electric Assn), a cooperative utility, serves all of Rost Township. Its homes paid an average of 12.8¢ per kWh in 2025, about $160 a month (its average across Minnesota).

Start or move service: econdev.federatedrea.coop · (507) 847-3520

Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.

Drinking water · reported to EPA

Water comes from Red Rock Rural Water System

Red Rock Rural Water System supplies Rost Township: about 20% of residents live in its service area. Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water System serves another 18%. About 62% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water (EPA lists Windom and Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water System and Balaton and Saint James as sellers) and serves 5,840 people in all.

No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 80% of the 5,012 systems serving 3,301–10,000 people.

Lead, 90th percentile2.0 ppb
015 ppb action level20

The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2022–Dec 2024, was 2.0 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s higher than 67% of similar systems’ latest results.

The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report

EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. MN1170009.

Internet

11 home internet providers serve Rost Township

100% of 98 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 22% can get fiber.

ProviderTechnologyAddressesFastest (Mbps)
Federated Rural Electric AssociationFixed wireless, Fiber100%40/3
FrontierDSL64%90/5
Southwest MN Broadband ServicesFiber16%2,000/2,000
GigFireFixed wireless100%150/130
MidcoFixed wireless100%100/20
NextlinkFixed wireless66%1,000/1,000

FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.

Trash & recycling

We don’t have Rost Township’s trash rules yet

Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Rost Township.

Trash, recycling and bulk pickupNot on fileOpenStreetMap lists no public drop-off in Rost Township or within 5 miles (as of Oct 9, 2026); map coverage varies by town.
Schools

Where your child goes to school

Public school districts and the school path by grade.

Rost Township kids go to
PK–62 schoolsDepends on your address
7–122 schoolsDepends on your address

Most of Rost Township (76%) is in Jackson County Central School District; parts are in Heron Lake-Okabena School District (24%).

Test scores and every school: see Schools →

U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.

Government & voting

Town hall and registering to vote

Who to call, and how to register.

Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Aug 2019; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.

ZIP codes & area codes

Rost Township spans 2 ZIP codes

ZIP codes where Rost Township residents live, with the share of the town in each.

ZIPPost office nameShare of Rost TownshipZIP’s residents in Rost Township
56150Lakefield, MN90%7%
56161Okabena, MN10%5%

Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.

Everyday places

Getting around, the ER and the library

One line each; the subject pages have the rest.

ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.

Questions about living in Rost Township

Who supplies Rost Township’s drinking water, and has it had violations?

Red Rock Rural Water System (EPA ID MN1170009). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 80% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 2.0 ppb (Jan 2022–Dec 2024), against a 15 ppb action level.

Who provides electricity in Rost Township?

Federated Rural Electric Assn (Federated Rural Electric Assn), a cooperative utility. Its homes paid about 12.8¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).

What internet providers serve Rost Township?

Federated Rural Electric Association, Frontier, Southwest MN Broadband Services, GigFire, Midco, Nextlink (FCC, as of December 2025).

What ZIP codes are in Rost Township?

56150 (90%), 56161 (10%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.

What school district is Rost Township in?

Jackson County Central School District. Parts of the city are in Heron Lake-Okabena School District.

How do I register to vote in Rost Township?

In Minnesota you can register online until 21 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (received 21 days before). Elections here are run by the Jackson County Courthouse. Check your registration at mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us.

Sources & dates

Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.

  • Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
  • Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
  • Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
  • ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
  • Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
  • Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
  • Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
  • Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.