Scores by category

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

Safety89#1,714/15,637
Economy37#9,916/15,631
Housing56#6,615/14,977
Health63#5,837/15,609
Healthcare39#9,598/15,650
Environment91#1,342/15,453
Education79#3,259/15,649
Infrastructure38#9,767/15,650
Community83#2,660/15,651
Leisure & amenities77#3,582/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Property crime rate · low200 /100k
99/100Minnesota 1,412 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2022Federal Bureau of InvestigationSwift County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Minnesota 15.7 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSwift County value
Restaurants and bars · high19.5 /10k
98/100Minnesota 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSwift County value
Child poverty rate · low0.5%
98/100Minnesota 9.6%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Pharmacies · high3.1 /10k
97/100Minnesota 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSwift County value
Public libraries · high3.1 /10k
96/100Minnesota 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesSwift County value

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-5.9%
1/100Minnesota -0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSwift County value
Flu vaccinations · low26.0%
3/100Minnesota 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSwift County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Minnesota 5.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySwift County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Minnesota 8.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSwift County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Minnesota 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSwift County value
New business applications · low7.6 /1k
5/100Minnesota 12.7 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauSwift County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,078 (2015-2019) → 3,441 (2020-2024)
+12%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
29.0% (2015-2019) → 0.5% (2020-2024)
−29 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
39.2% (2015-2019) → 59.4% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
72.8% (2015-2019) → 87.7% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.5% (2015-2019) → 35.7% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
21.0% (2015-2019) → 31.4% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Benson, Minnesota improved on 3 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 7 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.

Improved3

Bachelor's++10 points21.0% → 31.4%
Broadband+15 points72.8% → 87.7%
Household income+29%$41,063 → $52,821

Declined2

Rent / income+11 points24.5% → 35.7%
Uninsured+3.3 points2.5% → 5.8%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Benson, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.5 min2015-2019	17.5 min2020-2024	−0.1 min	Within the margin of error	48%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.0%2015-2019	31.4%2020-2024	+10 points	Improved	91%
Broadband subscriptions	72.8%2015-2019	87.7%2020-2024	+15 points	Improved	79%
Effective property tax rate	1.20%2015-2019	1.01%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	57%
High school diploma or higher	91.5%2015-2019	92.7%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	56%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4792015-2019	0.4432020-2024	−0.036	Within the margin of error	78%
Median household income	$41,0632015-2019	$52,8212020-2024	+29%	Improved	52%
Poverty rate	17.0%2015-2019	9.8%2020-2024	−7.2 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Rent as share of income	24.5%2015-2019	35.7%2020-2024	+11 points	Declined	8%
Rent-burdened households	39.2%2015-2019	59.4%2020-2024	+20 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	2.5%2015-2019	5.8%2020-2024	+3.3 points	Declined	17%

“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 Benson, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Benson, 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, Benson, Minnesota itself moved −6.8 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

3,441 residents (±29)

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: 30–39 women (−4.6 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

3,441 residents (±29)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

White87%3,005
Black0.3%†9
Hispanic or Latino9.4%†322
Asian0.0%0
American Indian and Alaska Native0.1%†4
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander0.0%0
Other or two or more races2.9%†101

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Hispanic or Latino (+6.0 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

2,290 residents (±114)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

No high school diploma7.3%†168
High school or GED24%553
Some college26%601
Associate degree11%†249
Bachelor's degree25%581
Graduate degree6.0%†138

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Associate degree (−9.9 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 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

1,499 households (±103)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k17%†262
$25k–50k32%474
$50k–75k20%†296
$75k–100k6.1%†91
$100k–150k14%†215
$150k–200k7.1%†106
$200k or more3.7%†55

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−17.8 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

1,499 households (±103)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own62%927
Rent38%572

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+6.9 points).

Table view

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

Rent paid

495 households (±90)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $75033%†163
$750–1,00020%†98
$1,000–1,50038%†186

Home values

927 homes (±92)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $150k45%421
$150k–250k32%†297
$250k–400k18%†166

Age of homes

1,674 homes (±102)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

2010 or later6.3%†106
2000–20099.2%†154
1980–199921%†348

Size of homes

1,674 homes (±102)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Studio2.8%†47
1 bedroom7.6%†127
2 bedrooms30%500

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

1,513 workers (±134)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone83%1,259
Carpool2.6%†40
Public transit0.5%†8
Walk9.1%†137
Bike1.0%†15
Work from home2.2%†33
Other1.4%†21

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Carpool (−8.6 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 B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,480 workers (±132)

Benson, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under 15 min57%843
15–29 min13%†186
30–44 min23%†345

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 Swift County, the county holding most of Benson's residents.

Swift County has 301 employer establishments, 311 for every 10,000 residents (1.25× the US rate of 248; 1.16× Minnesota's), with 3,382 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,977. The Census Bureau also counts 635 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 301; 635 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 311; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 3,382
Average annual pay: $50,977; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	28	28.9	1.87×More than typical	99	$61,646	53
Restaurants and other eating places	17	17.5	0.96×About typical	173	$15,780	—
Religious organizations	14	14.5	2.61×More than typical	59	$13,678	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	13	13.4	2.67×More than typical	52	$40,596	23
Building equipment contractors	12	12.4	2.06×More than typical	68	$66,485	—
Truck transportation	11	11.4	2.25×More than typical	48	$53,354	21
Construction of buildings	10	10.3	1.37×More than typical	7	$81,571	27
Banks and credit unions	9	9.3	2.88×Too few to compare	67	$53,940	—
Full-service restaurants	9	9.3	1.21×Too few to compare	68	$18,544	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	9.3	2.12×Too few to compare	21	$45,905	11
Ambulatory health care services	8	8.3	0.40×Too few to compare	60	$44,083	11
Electrical contractors and wiring installation	8	8.3	3.34×Too few to compare	47	$74,362	—

Rank places for an industry Open Swift County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 9,687 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Benson, Minnesota: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Spending by fiscal year

2.9KFY2019
339FY2024

What was bought

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 Benson, Minnesota, so they do not add up across cities.

Benson, Minnesota's figures are part of those of Swift County, MN ($33.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Swift 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.

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

House

Michelle FischbachR-MN-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.4%

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.

Swift County81100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Swift 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/2705212