Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
St. Peter's standout: it has 5 miles of trail. Overall it grades A−, ranked 124th of 271 in Minnesota. 33% of working residents work locally in St. Peter, against 9.7% in Minnesota’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Eugene Saint Julien Cox House and Traverse des Sioux. On civic life, just 45 of Minnesota’s 572 towns do better.
Where St. Peter beats most towns.
Eugene Saint Julien Cox House
Its 19 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Minnesota towns with a listing.
Census counts: 2,124 in 1870, 12,066 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1867 and 3 maps from 1965 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far St. Peter is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. Peter, 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. Peter.
St. Peter pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Minnesota norm and is shaped by its college students, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Minnesota (mostly inland flooding).
5.3 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. The trail density in St. Peter is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Traverse des Sioux Park, at 421 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The Arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus College;Gustavus Adolphus College Arboretum | 2.6 mi | 128 |
| 2. Traverse des Sioux Park | 0.7 mi | 421 |
| 3. Riverside Park - Disc Golf | — | 144 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the St. Peter Public School District. The largest public high school is St. Peter High School, with 692 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Peter Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 617 | C+ |
| St. Peter High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 692 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 9 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
St. Peter’s property crime rate is 5.9 per 1,000 residents.
| St. Peter | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
20.9% of residents are enrolled in college, against 5.8% statewide, which pulls the median age down.
Adults 18 to 34 are 32% of residents (22% statewide); children under 18 are 17% of residents (23% statewide). 35% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 39% across Minnesota.
| St. Peter | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 17% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 35.6 years | 39.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 33% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 18% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.2 points. Across Minnesota, 49.9% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 66% are men (MN 51%). Median age: women 34.8, men 36.0.
| St. Peter | MN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.4% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.8% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 22.6% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.6% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.8% | 13.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 12.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.2% | 6.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.2% | 23.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18% | 19.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.2% | 11.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.8% | 25.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.7% | 13.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of Minnesota towns, with expected losses of about $391 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1984, 13 flood insurance claims have been paid out in St. Peter.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 9,952 U.S. towns with household incomes like St. Peter’s, it is healthier than 87%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income. Within Minnesota it is less healthy than 64% of the 271 graded towns: Minnesota sets a high bar.
71% of adults had a checkup this year in St. Peter. Peter beats the Minnesota average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 20% of adults binge drink in St. Peter.
| St. Peter | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 75% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | St. Peter | MN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.1% | 8.5% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 28.4% | 33.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.7% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons average 82.5°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 90% of Minnesota places with climate records; January nights average 5.9°.
Peter has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| St. Peter | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 4,694 working residents takes 15.4 minutes, against 22.7 across Minnesota.
About one in 3 of St. 19% of St. Peter workers work from home. Jobs based in St. Peter grew to 6,096 in 2023, 699 more than in 2013.
| St. Peter | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 19% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
St. Peter grades A− overall with a typical home of about $298K, below the Minnesota typical value; only 39 of the 123 Minnesota towns graded A− or better can say that.
The typical St. Typical home values rose 2.5% in the year to September 2026. Peter home is worth about $298,000, up 2.5% in a year, 15% below the Minnesota typical home.
| St. Peter | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $961 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4 within 15 miles of the center of St. Peter
College town 21 of every 100 St. Peter residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
19.3% of the town is conserved land, across 18 parks and preserves.
19 places in St. Peter on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in St. Peter.
4 towns share a border with St. Peter.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Peter | #124 | A− | B− | A− | B+ | B+ |
| Kasota Township · Kasota | — | — | B | — | B+ | B+ |
| Traverse Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oshawa Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Kasota Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Kasota Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Traverse Township and Oshawa Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Kasota and Kasota Township are one community, graded once. Compare St. Peter with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. St. Peter grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #124 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades B+ for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools.
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. 10 notable people were born here, including Rick Rude and John Albert Johnson.
