Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Waseca gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $252K, 3.3 years of the county’s $76K median household income. It grades B− overall, ranked 213th of 271 in Minnesota. On the plus side, 6% of its land is conserved. 34% of working residents work locally in Waseca, against 9.7% in Minnesota’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On health, just 53 of Minnesota’s 572 towns do worse. Waseca has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Waseca County Courthouse and Roscoe P. Ward House.
Where Waseca beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Minnesota), ordered by how far Waseca is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 551 in 1870, 9,229 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1966 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Waseca, 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 Waseca.
Waseca is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Minnesota; it also has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 2016, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Waseca.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Waseca Public School District. Two of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartley ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 429 | C+ |
| Waseca Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 555 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MN on state tests and graduation
Waseca’s median rent is $903 a month. The typical Waseca home is worth about $252,000, up 1.6% in a year, 28% below the Minnesota typical home.
| Waseca | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $903 a month | $1,199 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 6.3°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 87% of Minnesota places with climate records; July afternoons average 81.4°.
Waseca has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The January low in Waseca is 6°F. About 52 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Waseca | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 6°F | 6°F | 22°F |
| July high | 81°F | 82°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 5,737 in 2013 to 3,436.
About one in 3 of Waseca’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Waseca fell to 3,436 in 2023, 2,301 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Owatonna (15%), Mankato (7%) and Faribault (4%).
| Waseca | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $91,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 9.5% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1.3 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. Maplewood Park, at 34 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Waseca | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.2% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maplewood Park | 1.3 mi | 34 |
| 2. Waseca County Fair Grounds | — | 30 |
| 3. Northeast Park | — | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 9,743 U.S. towns with household incomes like Waseca’s, it is healthier than 57%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Waseca beats the Minnesota average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 40% of Waseca adults have obesity.
| Waseca | Minnesota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 35% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 23% | 25% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 75% | 79% |
| What stands out | Waseca | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 15.9% | 11.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 10.4% | 7.5% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.9% | 5.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Waseca; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Waseca residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Minnesota.
7 places in Waseca on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Waseca.
City in Minnesota, United States
Waseca ( wə-SEE-kə) is a city in Waseca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,229 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Waseca.
| Town | MN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waseca | #213 | B− | B+ | B− | C+ | C+ |
| Woodville Township | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| St. Mary Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Woodville Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Woodville Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. St. Mary Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Waseca with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Waseca grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #213 of 271 in Minnesota. It grades C+ for health, B− 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 B+.
12 notable people were born here, including Leroy Shield and Ray John Madden.
