City · Aitkin County, Minnesota

Aitkin, Minnesota

Aitkin is a city in Aitkin County, Minnesota. It has 2,323 residents. Aitkin, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 60 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,319 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #345 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low), restaurants and bars (high) and new homes permitted (high). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), gyms and fitness centers (low) and distance to an airport (high).

60Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,319 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #345 of 364 in MN
Population: 2,323 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 784.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 2700460

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety71#4,473/15,637
Economy17#12,942/15,631
Housing65#5,311/14,977
Health47#8,330/15,609
Healthcare52#7,550/15,650
Environment69#4,822/15,453
Education57#6,680/15,649
Infrastructure22#12,133/15,650
Community79#3,238/15,651
Leisure & amenities85#2,338/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Aitkin, Minnesota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Aitkin County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.3 µg/m³
99/100Minnesota 6.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyAitkin County value
Restaurants and bars · high19.1 /10k
98/100Minnesota 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAitkin County value
New homes permitted · high31.9 /1k
98/100Minnesota 3.9 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Mammography screening · high59.0%
98/100Minnesota 54.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAitkin County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low96 min
97/100Minnesota 134 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAitkin County value
Average commute time · low14.3 min
97/100Minnesota 22.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Minnesota 5.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyAitkin County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Minnesota 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAitkin County value
Distance to an airport · high118 mi
6/100Minnesota 43 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAitkin County value
Flu vaccinations · low29.0%
7/100Minnesota 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAitkin County value
Injury deaths · high135 /100k
7/100Minnesota 81 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAitkin County value
Drought exposure · high85%
8/100Minnesota 36%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAAitkin County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
0.9 /1k (2021) → 31.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+3,286%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
59.4% (2015-2019) → 85.2% (2020-2024)
+26 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
19.9% (2015-2019) → 37.4% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
High school diploma or higherImproving
85.7% (2015-2019) → 94.5% (2020-2024)
+8.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$35,294 (2015-2019) → $47,978 (2020-2024)
+36%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
45.6% (2015-2019) → 48.6% (2020-2024)
+3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Aitkin, Minnesota improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+26 points59.4% → 85.2%

Declined1

Child poverty+17 points19.9% → 37.4%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Aitkin, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.7 min2015-2019	14.3 min2020-2024	+0.6 min	Within the margin of error	40%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.4%2015-2019	21.3%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	34%
Broadband subscriptions	59.4%2015-2019	85.2%2020-2024	+26 points	Improved	96%
Child poverty rate	19.9%2015-2019	37.4%2020-2024	+17 points	Declined	6%
Effective property tax rate	0.73%2015-2019	0.80%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	9%
High school diploma or higher	85.7%2015-2019	94.5%2020-2024	+8.7 points	Within the margin of error	93%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	59%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4552015-2019	0.4662020-2024	+0.010	Within the margin of error	41%
Median household income	$35,2942015-2019	$47,9782020-2024	+36%	Within the margin of error	67%
Poverty rate	19.5%2015-2019	22.1%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Rent as share of income	28.6%2015-2019	29.8%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Rent-burdened households	45.6%2015-2019	48.6%2020-2024	+3 points	Within the margin of error	45%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Aitkin, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Aitkin, Minnesota in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Aitkin, Minnesota itself moved +2.5 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,323 residents (±221)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under 10 men (−5.2 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

2,323 residents (±221)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

White94%2,181
Black0.2%†4
Hispanic or Latino1.1%†25
Asian0.0%0
American Indian and Alaska Native1.2%†29
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander0.0%0
Other or two or more races3.6%†84

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Hispanic or Latino (−1.9 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B03002View table on data.census.gov

Education

1,660 residents (±149)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

No high school diploma5.5%†92
High school or GED40%665
Some college25%418
Associate degree7.9%†131
Bachelor's degree15%249
Graduate degree6.3%†105

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: No high school diploma (−8.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B15003View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

969 households (±84)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k31%301
$25k–50k22%211
$50k–75k18%†171
$75k–100k12%†114
$100k–150k13%†130
$150k–200k3.1%†30
$200k or more1.2%†12

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $100k–150k (+8.1 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

969 households (±84)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own59%573
Rent41%396

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+9.0 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

392 households (±78)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $75057%223
$750–1,00019%†75
$1,000–1,50019%†75

Home values

573 homes (±75)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $150k33%†191
$150k–250k48%273
$250k–400k12%†68

Age of homes

1,118 homes (±93)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

2010 or later3.8%†43
2000–200915%†166
1980–199918%202

Size of homes

1,118 homes (±93)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Studio6.4%†71
1 bedroom21%†230
2 bedrooms23%253

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

898 workers (±122)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone75%675
Carpool11%†96
Public transit0.0%0
Walk5.3%†48
Bike1.4%†13
Work from home6.6%†59
Other0.8%†7

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

839 workers (±117)

Aitkin, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under 15 min67%561
15–29 min15%†130
30–44 min14%†114

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Aitkin County, the county holding most of Aitkin's residents.

Aitkin County has 415 employer establishments, 257 for every 10,000 residents (1.04× the US rate of 248; 0.96× Minnesota's), with 3,632 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,962. The Census Bureau also counts 1,171 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 415; 1,171 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 257; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 3,632
Average annual pay: $49,962; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Aitkin County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	51	31.6	2.04×More than typical	177	$61,424	141
Restaurants and other eating places	31	19.2	1.05×About typical	346	$20,965	3
Full-service restaurants	19	11.8	1.53×More than typical	203	$20,818	—
Building equipment contractors	17	10.5	1.75×More than typical	111	$60,441	20
Other specialty trade contractors	17	10.5	4.20×More than typical	47	$54,340	44
Ambulatory health care services	15	9.3	0.45×Fewer than typical	125	$61,088	21
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	15	9.3	7.67×More than typical	92	$18,326	3
Services to buildings and dwellings	15	9.3	1.38×More than typical	7	$150,714	92
Gasoline stations	13	8.1	2.49×More than typical	115	$23,209	—
Landscaping services	13	8.1	2.30×More than typical	5	$206,200	37
Lessors of real estate	13	8.1	0.65×Fewer than typical	12	$51,083	115
Civic and social organizations	12	7.4	10.1×More than typical	104	$11,827	—

Rank places for an industry Open Aitkin County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,131 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Aitkin is mostly in Aitkin County.

See federal money in Aitkin County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Aitkin, Minnesota is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Pete StauberR-MN-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Aitkin County64100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Aitkin County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

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