Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sleepy Eye gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $178K, 2.6 years of the New Ulm area’s $69K median household income. It grades A− overall, 105th of 271 graded towns in Minnesota. On the plus side, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 80% of U.S. towns. 31% of working residents work locally in Sleepy Eye, above both the Minnesota town median (9.7%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). On history, just 42 of Minnesota’s 574 towns do better. Sleepy Eye is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns.
Where Sleepy Eye beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Sleepy Eye is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 997 in 1880, 3,452 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 3 maps from 1964 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sleepy Eye, 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 Sleepy Eye.
Sleepy Eye pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Minnesota norm, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has a shorter frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota.
Sleepy Eye grades A− overall with a typical home of about $178K, below the Minnesota typical value; only 39 of the 123 Minnesota towns graded A− or better can say that. At 2.6 years of the New Ulm area’s $69K median household income, the typical home (about $178K) costs less against local pay than in 94% of Minnesota towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The median rent in Sleepy Eye is $782 a month. Typical home values rose 8.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Sleepy Eye | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $782 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Sleepy Eye Public School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleepy Eye ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 324 | B |
| Sleepy Eye Sec.Largest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 238 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 15 to 5 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
Sleepy Eye’s property crime rate is 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Sleepy Eye | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The New Ulm 2 Se weather station, 12 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 161 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 86% of Minnesota places with climate records. July afternoons average 82.4°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 88% of Minnesota places with climate records; January nights average 6.1°.
Sleepy Eye has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Sleepy Eye | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here fell from 2,187 in 2013 to 1,166. The average commute for its 1,475 working residents takes 14.9 minutes, against 22.7 across Minnesota.
About one in 3 of Sleepy Eye’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Sleepy Eye has lost 1,021 jobs, to 1,166 in 2023. The top destinations are New Ulm (25%), Home Township (6%) and Leavenworth Township (4%).
| Sleepy Eye | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.8% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.9 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Sportsmans Park, at 35 acres.
| Sleepy Eye | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.5% | 4.6% | 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. Sportsmans Park | 0.2 mi | 35 |
| 2. Eagles Park | — | 13 |
| 3. Prairieview Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 10,185 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sleepy Eye’s, it is healthier than 69%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Minnesota it is less healthy than 81% of the 271 graded towns: Minnesota sets a high bar.
Sleepy Eye beats the Minnesota average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 27% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Sleepy Eye.
| Sleepy Eye | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 33% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 10% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Sleepy Eye | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79.9% | 76.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.3% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Sleepy Eye
About 3 of every 100 Sleepy Eye residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
5 places in Sleepy Eye on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Sleepy Eye.
City in Minnesota, United States
Sleepy Eye is a small city in rural Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The city is named after a famed local Dakota chief from the 1800s. The population was 3,452 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Sleepy Eye grades A− overall, better than 83% of U.S. towns and #105 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B− for health, A− for safety and C+ for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
7 notable people were born here, including Scott Jensen and Carl Jensen.
