City · Crow Wing County, Minnesota

Baxter, Minnesota

Baxter is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, part of the Brainerd, MN metro area. It has 8,966 residents. Baxter, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 82 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,822 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #214 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on loneliness (low), mammography screening (high) and restaurants and bars (high). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), suicide rate (high) and days with unhealthy air (high).

82Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,822 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #214 of 364 in MN
Population: 8,966 (2020-2024)
Land area: 19 mi²
Density: 475.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2704042

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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#4,475/15,637
Economy53#7,421/15,631
Housing41#8,777/14,977
Health66#5,365/15,609
Healthcare74#4,063/15,650
Environment66#5,298/15,453
Education94#1,011/15,649
Infrastructure44#8,783/15,650
Community97#438/15,651
Leisure & amenities88#1,940/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Baxter, Minnesota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Crow Wing 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

Loneliness · low28.6%
97/100Minnesota 32.1%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Mammography screening · high58.0%
97/100Minnesota 54.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCrow Wing County value
Restaurants and bars · high15.9 /10k
96/100Minnesota 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCrow Wing County value
High school diploma or higher · high96.6%
95/100Minnesota 93.9%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Voter turnout · high79.6%
95/100Minnesota 77.0%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionCrow Wing County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.4 µg/m³
94/100Minnesota 6.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCrow Wing County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high116 mi
6/100Minnesota 43 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCrow Wing County value
Suicide rate · high26.4 /100k
7/100Minnesota 13.8 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCrow Wing County value
Days with unhealthy air · high3.8%
10/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCrow Wing County value
Comfortable days · low23.3%
10/100Minnesota 23.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCrow Wing County value
Drought exposure · high76%
16/100Minnesota 36%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAACrow Wing County value
Home price to income ratio · high4.6×
25/100Minnesota 3.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Trends

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

PopulationRising
8,202 (2015-2019) → 8,966 (2020-2024)
+9.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
3.8% (2015-2019) → 19.5% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.9× (2015-2019) → 4.6× (2020-2024)
+57%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
1.5% (2015-2019) → 9.7% (2020-2024)
+8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Poverty rateWorsening
6.1% (2015-2019) → 13.1% (2020-2024)
+7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
8.5 /1k (2021) → 6.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−30%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

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, Baxter, Minnesota improved on 0 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 4. 8 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined4

Uninsured+8.2 points1.5% → 9.7%
Price / income+1.7×2.9× → 4.6×
Poverty+7 points6.1% → 13.1%
Inequality+0.0560.375 → 0.431

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Baxter, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.1 min2015-2019	19.2 min2020-2024	−0.9 min	Within the margin of error	59%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.2%2015-2019	38.3%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Broadband subscriptions	86.9%2015-2019	88.2%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Effective property tax rate	1.07%2015-2019	0.97%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	35%
High school diploma or higher	96.3%2015-2019	96.6%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	4.6×2020-2024	+1.7×	Declined	7%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3752015-2019	0.4312020-2024	+0.056	Declined	14%
Median household income	$71,2202015-2019	$70,6882020-2024	−0.7%	Within the margin of error	7%
Poverty rate	6.1%2015-2019	13.1%2020-2024	+7 points	Declined	8%
Rent as share of income	31.5%2015-2019	31.9%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Rent-burdened households	54.2%2015-2019	56.1%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	1.5%2015-2019	9.7%2020-2024	+8.2 points	Declined	4%

“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 Baxter, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Baxter, 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, Baxter, Minnesota itself moved −11.5 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

8,966 residents (±40)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

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

Household income

3,990 households (±189)

Baxter, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k16%†635
$25k–50k17%†680
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,990 households (±189)

Baxter, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own63%2,498
Rent37%1,492

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

4,492 workers (±323)

Baxter, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone73%3,265
Carpool6.3%†283
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Brainerd, MN

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 Crow Wing County, the county holding most of Baxter's residents.

Crow Wing County has 2,283 employer establishments, 334 for every 10,000 residents (1.35× the US rate of 248; 1.24× Minnesota's), with 28,209 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,722. The Census Bureau also counts 5,779 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,283; 5,779 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 334; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 28,209
Average annual pay: $47,722; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	198	29	1.87×More than typical	1,157	$68,105	573
Ambulatory health care services	150	21.9	1.05×About typical	2,256	$75,039	183
Restaurants and other eating places	143	20.9	1.14×About typical	2,476	$23,824	10
Lessors of real estate	112	16.4	1.33×More than typical	277	$43,094	726
Construction of buildings	92	13.5	1.78×More than typical	388	$63,144	314
Full-service restaurants	75	11	1.43×More than typical	1,336	$25,740	6
Services to buildings and dwellings	71	10.4	1.54×More than typical	301	$55,349	408
Real estate agents and brokers	65	9.5	1.95×More than typical	119	$47,588	184
Building equipment contractors	63	9.2	1.53×More than typical	541	$71,059	75
Other specialty trade contractors	57	8.3	3.32×More than typical	147	$89,633	182
Religious organizations	53	7.8	1.40×More than typical	365	$21,822	—
Offices of other health practitioners	52	7.6	1.25×More than typical	279	$43,082	108

Rank places for an industry Open Crow Wing County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 68,339 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

In FY2026, an estimated $2.3M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Baxter, Minnesota: $252 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $2.3M; +9.9% vs FY2025
Per resident: $252; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 13%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

LCL ELECTRONICS INC$1.7M77%
FAIRWINDS TECHNOLOGIES LLC$513.5K23%

Spending by fiscal year

4.2MFY2017
1.9MFY2018
10.9MFY2019
1.9MFY2020
567KFY2021
1.9MFY2022
2.5MFY2023
2.3M

Top industries (NAICS)

Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$1M45%
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing · 3344$847K37%
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$206.5K9.1%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112$139.3K6.2%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$45.8K2.0%
Communications equipment manufacturing · 3342

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Baxter, Minnesota

CONTROL,INTERFACE$543.9K
FAIRWINDS TECHNOLOGIES LLC· Crow Wing County, MN· IT & telecom· Jan 14, 2026 – Jan 14, 2026· SPRMM126FE61N
SINGLE AWARD FIRM-FIXED PRICE (FFP) TYPE CONTRACT WITH ONE YEAR BUYING OPTION.$204.9K
LCL ELECTRONICS INC· Crow Wing County, MN· Weapons, aircraft, ships & vehicles· Dec 3, 2025 – Feb 26, 2026· W912CH26P0004
CIRCUIT CARD ASSEMBLY NSN: 5998-01-664-6984 MFPN: 12587904 QTY: 21 EA OPTION: 21 EA NOT EXERCISED AT AWARD$158.7K
LCL ELECTRONICS INC· Crow Wing County, MN· Other equipment & supplies· Jan 14, 2025 – Oct 23, 2025· SPRDL125P0014
8512155457!CIRCUIT BREAKER BOX

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Baxter, Minnesota, so they do not add up across cities.

Baxter, Minnesota's figures are part of those of Crow Wing County, MN ($2.5M in FY2026), never added to them: 92% of that total.

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

See federal money in Crow Wing 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.

Baxter, 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.

Crow Wing County92100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Brainerd, MN87

Other cities and towns in Crow Wing 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

JSON · /api/v1/places/2704042

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends