City · Mower County, Minnesota

Grand Meadow, Minnesota

Grand Meadow is a city in Mower County, Minnesota, part of the Austin, MN metro area. It has 1,011 residents. Grand Meadow, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 81 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,919 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #226 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on high school diploma or higher (high), drought exposure (low) and unemployment rate (low). It ranks worst on distance to an emergency room (high), new business applications (low) and pharmacies (low).

81Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,919 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #226 of 364 in MN
Population: 1,011 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,471.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2725010

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety70#4,633/15,637
Economy65#5,409/15,631
Housing65#5,185/14,977
Health69#4,795/15,609
Healthcare54#7,150/15,650
Environment93#1,044/15,453
Education58#6,594/15,649
Infrastructure58#6,639/15,650
Community89#1,663/15,651
Leisure & amenities59#6,438/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

High school diploma or higher · high97.6%
99/100Minnesota 93.9%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Drought exposure · low0%
95/100Minnesota 36%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMower County value
Unemployment rate · low0.7%
94/100Minnesota 3.9%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Grocery stores · high2.7 /10k
92/100Minnesota 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMower County value
Mammography screening · high55.0%
91/100Minnesota 54.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMower County value
Loneliness · low30.5%
91/100Minnesota 32.1%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

Distance to an emergency room · high19.2 mi
3/100Minnesota 6.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMower County value
New business applications · low7.5 /1k
4/100Minnesota 12.7 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauMower County value
Pharmacies · low1.0 /10k
13/100Minnesota 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMower County value
Distance to an airport · high86 mi
15/100Minnesota 43 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMower County value
Job growth · low-1.6%
17/100Minnesota -0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMower County value
Natural hazard risk · high79.6
19/100Minnesota 27.82025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMower County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,125 (2015-2019) → 1,011 (2020-2024)
−10%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
74.9% (2015-2019) → 90.9% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
19.2% (2015-2019) → 30.7% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
New homes permittedWorsening
3.9 /1k (2021) → 2.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−49%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Poverty rateImproving
12.9% (2015-2019) → 4.3% (2020-2024)
−8.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.8× (2015-2019) → 2.6× (2020-2024)
+42%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Grand Meadow, Minnesota improved on 4 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 6 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.

Improved4

Uninsured−8.2 points10.8% → 2.6%
Bachelor's++12 points19.2% → 30.7%
Broadband+16 points74.9% → 90.9%
Household income+18%$60,900 → $72,125

Declined1

Price / income+0.8×1.8× → 2.6×

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Grand Meadow, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.2 min2015-2019	22.9 min2020-2024	−1.3 min	Within the margin of error	63%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.2%2015-2019	30.7%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	93%
Broadband subscriptions	74.9%2015-2019	90.9%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	82%
Effective property tax rate	1.40%2015-2019	1.46%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	9%
High school diploma or higher	95.1%2015-2019	97.6%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.8×	Declined	33%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4452015-2019	0.4512020-2024	+0.006	Within the margin of error	46%
Median household income	$60,9002015-2019	$72,1252020-2024	+18%	Improved	30%
Rent as share of income	27.3%2015-2019	26.3%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Rent-burdened households	44.3%2015-2019	39.3%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.8%2015-2019	2.6%2020-2024	−8.2 points	Improved	94%

“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 Grand Meadow, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Grand Meadow, 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, Grand Meadow, Minnesota itself moved +4.8 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

1,011 residents (±114)

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

430 households (±61)

Grand Meadow, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k6.5%†28
$25k–50k20%†87
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

430 households (±61)

Grand Meadow, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own87%374
Rent13%†56

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+14.5 points).

† 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

539 workers (±72)

Grand Meadow, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone82%441
Carpool3.0%†16
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 Austin, 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 Mower County, the county holding most of Grand Meadow's residents.

Mower County has 800 employer establishments, 199 for every 10,000 residents (0.80× the US rate of 248; 0.74× Minnesota's), with 13,890 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,516. The Census Bureau also counts 2,112 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 800; 2,112 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 199; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 13,890
Average annual pay: $52,516; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	60	14.9	0.96×About typical	343	$81,297	155
Restaurants and other eating places	48	11.9	0.65×Fewer than typical	822	$19,055	—
Religious organizations	38	9.5	1.70×More than typical	188	$17,793	—
Ambulatory health care services	31	7.7	0.37×Fewer than typical	332	$42,377	30
Building equipment contractors	29	7.2	1.20×About typical	263	$83,308	12
Truck transportation	28	7	1.38×More than typical	506	$61,840	127
Automotive repair and maintenance	24	6	1.19×About typical	98	$45,908	63
Gasoline stations	24	6	1.84×More than typical	277	$22,643	3
Full-service restaurants	23	5.7	0.74×Fewer than typical	359	$19,643	—
Limited-service restaurants	23	5.7	0.71×Fewer than typical	449	$18,715	—
Banks and credit unions	20	5	1.54×More than typical	143	$55,965	—
Lessors of real estate	18	4.5	0.36×Fewer than typical	128	$31,625	182

Rank places for an industry Open Mower County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 40,207 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: Grand Meadow is mostly in Mower County.

See federal money in Mower 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.

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

House

Brad FinstadR-MN-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 0.9%

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.

Mower County82100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Austin, MN78

Other cities and towns in Mower 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/2725010

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends