Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
St. Cloud is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 269th among Minnesota's 271 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Cloud metro’s $76K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: its crime rate is higher than 87% of U.S. towns, with 257 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 44% of working residents work locally in St. Cloud, against 9.7% in Minnesota’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On walkability, just 39 of Minnesota’s 574 towns do better. St. Cloud has 14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Model School and Foley-Brower-Bohmer House.
Where St. Cloud beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Saint Cloud State University | 8,690 |
| St Cloud Technical and Community College | 2,288 |
| Rasmussen University-Minnesota | 1,168 |
Foley-Brower-Bohmer House
Census counts: 2,161 in 1870, 68,881 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 3 maps from 1950 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far St. Cloud is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. Cloud, 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 St. Cloud.
St. Cloud draws workers from Sartell and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the Minnesota rate.
43,912 jobs are based in St. Cloud, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
20% of residents live below the poverty line in St. Cloud. 44% of St. The median household income in St. Cloud is $61,000.
| St. Cloud | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.5% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the St. Cloud Public School District. Two of its 35 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Hill Community ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 878 | B− |
| Technical Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,561 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 2,664 to 2,069 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
St. Cloud’s property crime rate is 24.9 per 1,000 residents. Among 167 Minnesota towns, just 8 have a higher violent crime rate than St. Cloud. Cloud reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
| St. Cloud | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 24.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
20.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.3% across Minnesota, which weighs on its C for jobs and income. Only 48.6% of households own their home, against 72.2% across Minnesota.
13% of St. Cloud residents are 65 or older. Only 6 of the 273 Minnesota towns we compare have a lower median age than St. Cloud. St. Cloud has grown 4.4% since 2020, to 72,647 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| St. Cloud | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 30.6 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 18% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1 point. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 30.7, men 30.5.
| St. Cloud | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.1% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.8% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 18.9% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.3% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.3% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.2% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.1% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.8% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.5% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.3% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.3% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.1% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
16 miles of trail in 47 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is George Friedrich Park, 174 acres with 2.5 miles of trail.
| St. Cloud | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.2% | 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. George Friedrich Park | 2.5 mi | 174 |
| 2. Heritage Park | 2.1 mi | 70 |
| 3. Eastman Park | 0.7 mi | 26 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical St. Only 5 of the 273 Minnesota towns we compare have a lower share of households owning their home than St. Cloud. Cloud home is worth about $256,000, up 1.2% in a year, 27% below the Minnesota typical home.
| St. Cloud | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,003 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Cloud has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 3° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in St. Cloud.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 9,277 U.S. towns with household incomes like St. Cloud’s, it is healthier than 73%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Among 271 Minnesota towns, just 6 have a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than St. Cloud. Cloud beats the Minnesota average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16.
| St. Cloud | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 75% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | St. Cloud | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.2% | 8.5% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.4% | 5.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
5 within 15 miles of the center of St. Cloud
About 14 of every 100 St. Cloud residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
3 colleges in town.
14 places in St. Cloud on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in St. Cloud.
City in Minnesota, United States
St. Cloud or Saint Cloud (; French: [sɛ̃ klu]) is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-most populous city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stearns County, though it also extends into Benton and Sherburne counties. The city lies along the Mississippi River and is named after Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris named for the 6th-century monk Clodoald. The St. Cloud metropolitan area has an estimated 206,000 residents and is Minnesota's fifth-largest metropolitan statistical area. St. Cloud is 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul along Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 52 (conjoined w…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with St. Cloud.
Sartell next door grades higher for schools (A to St. Cloud’s C−) and lower for cost of living (C− to B−).
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Cloud | #269 | C− | B− | D | C− | B− |
| Minden Township | — | — | C+ | — | B | B |
| Haven Township | — | — | B− | — | C− | C |
| Waite Park | #271 | D | C+ | D | C− | C |
| Le Sauk Township | — | — | C | — | A | A− |
| St. Augusta | #187 | B | B− | — | C− | A− |
| Sauk Rapids · Sauk Rapids Township | #175 | B+ | B− | B− | B | B+ |
| Sartell | #153 | B+ | C− | B | A | A |
Minden Township, Haven Township and Le Sauk Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Minden Township, Haven Township, Le Sauk Township and St. Augusta report no FBI crime data of their own. Sauk Rapids Township and Sauk Rapids are one community, graded once. Compare St. Cloud with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
St. Cloud grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #269 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B− for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Cloud, MN 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 B−.
St. 48 notable people were born here, including Gig Young and Joel Gretsch.
