Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,074, settled in 1880.
Staples gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $216K, 3.2 years of the county’s $68K median household income. It grades B− overall, ranked 212th of 271 in Minnesota. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $52K, and 16% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 29% of residents are 65 or older in Staples, against 17% in Minnesota’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. Only 52 of Minnesota’s 572 towns score lower on health. Staples has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Batcher Opera House Block and Northern Pacific Railway Depot and Freighthouse.
Where Staples beats most towns.
Where Staples’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Staples is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 585 in 1890, 2,989 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1902 and 2 maps from 1966 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Staples, 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 Staples.
Staples trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Wadena and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
2,046 jobs are based in Staples, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 5 of Staples’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Wadena (9%), Motley (7%) and Brainerd (5%). The average trip to work in Staples is 22 minutes.
| Staples | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 9.7% | 8% |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Staples-Motley School District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Staples-Motley Senior High, with 309 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staples-Motley ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 308 | C+ |
| Staples-Motley Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 309 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $216K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 22 miles. Home values rose 32% in five years, to about $216K, against 14% across Minnesota.
Staples’ median rent is $844 a month. Typical home values rose 8.3% in the year to September 2026. 63% of households own their home in Staples.
| Staples | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $844 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 0.2°, colder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 79.8°.
Staples has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 51 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 6,484 U.S. towns with household incomes like Staples’s, it is healthier than 74%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Staples beats the Minnesota average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 28% of Staples adults get no exercise outside work.
| Staples | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 23% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 75% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 30% | 36% |
| What stands out | Staples | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.2% | 8.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.8% | 5.4% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.9% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 102 to 22 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Staples; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Staples residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
2 places in Staples on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Staples.
City in Minnesota, United States
Staples is a city in Todd and Wadena counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 2,989 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Staples.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staples · Staples Township | #212 | B− | A− | C+ | B | C+ |
| Thomastown Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Villard Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Thomastown Township and Villard Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Staples Township and Staples are one community, graded once. Compare Staples with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Staples grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #212 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
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−.
4 notable people were born here, including David Joerger and Loren Bain.
