Census-designated place · Carlton County, Minnesota

Esko, Minnesota

Esko is a census-designated place in Carlton County, Minnesota, part of the Duluth, MN-WI metro area. It has 1,813 residents. Esko, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 96 out of 100 (very high), ranking #606 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #46 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low), math scores (high) and income inequality (Gini index) (low). It ranks worst on preventable hospital stays (high), new business applications (low) and distance to an airport (high).

96Very high

Quality-of-life score: #606 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #46 of 364 in MN
Population: 1,813 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 373.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 2719718

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety88#1,883/15,637
Economy86#2,224/15,631
Housing82#2,692/14,977
Health64#5,629/15,609
Healthcare72#4,393/15,650
Environment92#1,227/15,453
Education98#298/15,649
Infrastructure89#1,781/15,650
Community81#3,038/15,651
Leisure & amenities56#6,904/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Esko, Minnesota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Carlton 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) · low3.2 µg/m³
100/100Minnesota 6.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCarlton County value
Math scores · high3.64
99/100Minnesota 3.30United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarlton County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.290
99/100Minnesota 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Hot days · low1 days
97/100Minnesota 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCarlton County value
Reading scores · high3.44
96/100Minnesota 3.12United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarlton County value
Property crime rate · low316 /100k
96/100Minnesota 1,412 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCarlton County value

Weaknesses

Preventable hospital stays · high4,791 /100k
3/100Minnesota 2,419 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarlton County value
New business applications · low7.4 /1k
4/100Minnesota 12.7 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauCarlton County value
Distance to an airport · high126 mi
5/100Minnesota 43 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCarlton County value
Comfortable days · low22.9%
7/100Minnesota 23.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCarlton County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high107 mi
9/100Minnesota 32 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCarlton County value
Days with unhealthy air · high3.4%
12/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCarlton County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,042 (2015-2019) → 1,813 (2020-2024)
−11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
100.0% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−100 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
51.0% (2015-2019) → 20.0% (2020-2024)
−31 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
33.3% (2015-2019) → 52.4% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Average commute timeImproving
34.0 min (2015-2019) → 15.5 min (2020-2024)
−54%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
86.8% (2015-2019) → 97.5% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Esko, Minnesota improved on 5 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 5 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.

Improved5

Rent / income−31 points51.0% → 20.0%
Commute−18.5 min34.0 min → 15.5 min
Bachelor's++19 points33.3% → 52.4%
Household income+49%$72,986 → $109,063
Broadband+11 points86.8% → 97.5%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Esko, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	34.0 min2015-2019	15.5 min2020-2024	−18.5 min	Improved	100%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.3%2015-2019	52.4%2020-2024	+19 points	Improved	99%
Broadband subscriptions	86.8%2015-2019	97.5%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	62%
Effective property tax rate	0.88%2015-2019	1.06%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	3%
High school diploma or higher	99.2%2015-2019	100.0%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	−0.1×	Within the margin of error	84%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3302015-2019	0.2912020-2024	−0.040	Within the margin of error	79%
Median household income	$72,9862015-2019	$109,0632020-2024	+49%	Improved	84%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	51.0%2015-2019	20.0%2020-2024	−31 points	Improved	100%

“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 Esko, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Esko, 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, Esko, Minnesota itself moved +25.2 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,813 residents (±401)

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

746 households (±153)

Esko, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k5.5%†41
$25k–50k2.8%†21
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

746 households (±153)

Esko, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own87%648
Rent13%†98

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

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

949 workers (±268)

Esko, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone77%†727
Carpool4.4%†42
Public transit

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 Duluth, MN-WI

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 Carlton County, the county holding most of Esko's residents.

Carlton County has 708 employer establishments, 193 for every 10,000 residents (0.78× the US rate of 248; 0.72× Minnesota's), with 7,855 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,850. The Census Bureau also counts 2,117 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 708; 2,117 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 193; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 7,855
Average annual pay: $54,850; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	55	15	0.97×About typical	154	$64,701	145
Construction of buildings	41	11.2	1.48×More than typical	289	$128,450	58
Ambulatory health care services	36	9.8	0.47×Fewer than typical	334	$58,428	73
Restaurants and other eating places	34	9.3	0.50×Fewer than typical	572	$25,463	7
Religious organizations	31	8.4	1.52×More than typical	176	$18,460	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	26	7.1	1.41×More than typical	123	$54,805	40
Truck transportation	20	5.5	1.08×About typical	153	$61,908	54
Full-service restaurants	19	5.2	0.67×Fewer than typical	329	$26,684	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	19	5.2	0.77×Fewer than typical	69	$23,725	111
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	18	4.9	1.56×More than typical	51	$64,784	25
Building equipment contractors	16	4.4	0.72×Fewer than typical	66	$50,621	26
Gasoline stations	16	4.4	1.34×More than typical	305	$26,472	—

Rank places for an industry Open Carlton County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 36,694 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 Esko, 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

9.6KFY2017
561.1FY2018
714.1FY2019
2.5KFY2023
3.4KFY2024

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

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

See federal money in Carlton 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.

Esko, 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.

Carlton County86100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Duluth, MN-WI79

Other cities and towns in Carlton 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
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/2719718

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends