City · Rice County, Minnesota

Lonsdale, Minnesota

Lonsdale is a city in Rice County, Minnesota, part of the Faribault-Northfield, MN metro area. It has 4,896 residents. Lonsdale, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 95 out of 100 (very high), ranking #765 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #59 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on poverty rate (low), child poverty rate (low) and income inequality (Gini index) (low). It ranks worst on preventable hospital stays (high), mental health care shortage (high) and new business applications (low).

95Very high

Quality-of-life score: #765 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #59 of 364 in MN
Population: 4,896 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,875.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 2738150

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.

Safety83#2,645/15,637
Economy91#1,333/15,631
Housing57#6,366/14,977
Health83#2,593/15,609
Healthcare67#5,184/15,650
Environment88#1,794/15,453
Education78#3,449/15,649
Infrastructure85#2,402/15,650
Community97#464/15,651
Leisure & amenities68#4,963/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Poverty rate · low1.3%
98/100Minnesota 9.3%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Child poverty rate · low2.2%
98/100Minnesota 9.6%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.320
98/100Minnesota 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Loneliness · low29.1%
96/100Minnesota 32.1%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
High school diploma or higher · high97.2%
95/100Minnesota 93.9%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Distance to an emergency room · low3.0 mi
93/100Minnesota 6.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesRice County value

Weaknesses

Preventable hospital stays · high3,878 /100k
11/100Minnesota 2,419 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRice County value
Mental health care shortage · high18.0
11/100Minnesota 8.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationRice County value
New business applications · low8.8 /1k
13/100Minnesota 12.7 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauRice County value
Pharmacies · low1.3 /10k
29/100Minnesota 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRice County value
Average commute time · high31.7 min
31/100Minnesota 22.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Natural hazard risk · high65.0
31/100Minnesota 27.82025Federal Emergency Management AgencyRice County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
4,010 (2015-2019) → 4,896 (2020-2024)
+22%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
70.5% (2015-2019) → 25.8% (2020-2024)
−45 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
9.3 /1k (2021) → 0.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−91%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeImproving
40.3% (2015-2019) → 23.3% (2020-2024)
−17 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.2× (2015-2019) → 3.8× (2020-2024)
+68%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.267 (2015-2019) → 0.320 (2020-2024)
+20%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483

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, Lonsdale, Minnesota improved on 1 of 9 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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.

Improved1

Rent / income−17 points40.3% → 23.3%

Declined2

Price / income+1.5×2.2× → 3.8×
Inequality+0.0530.267 → 0.320

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Lonsdale, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.2 min2015-2019	31.7 min2020-2024	+1.6 min	Within the margin of error	31%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.4%2015-2019	25.1%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	94.8%2015-2019	97.7%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Effective property tax rate	1.17%2015-2019	1.10%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
High school diploma or higher	94.3%2015-2019	97.2%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+1.5×	Declined	9%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.2672015-2019	0.3202020-2024	+0.053	Declined	15%
Median household income	$90,5092015-2019	$95,1762020-2024	+5.2%	Within the margin of error	12%
Rent as share of income	40.3%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	−17 points	Improved	98%

“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 Lonsdale, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lonsdale, 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, Lonsdale, Minnesota itself moved +1.4 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

4,896 residents (±17)

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

1,618 households (±152)

Lonsdale, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k5.4%†87
$25k–50k9.4%†152
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,618 households (±152)

Lonsdale, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own92%1,490
Rent7.9%†128

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+9.1 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

2,404 workers (±243)

Lonsdale, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone77%1,846
Carpool8.9%†213
Public transit1.2%†

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 Faribault-Northfield, 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 Rice County, the county holding most of Lonsdale's residents.

Rice County has 1,600 employer establishments, 233 for every 10,000 residents (0.94× the US rate of 248; 0.87× Minnesota's), with 25,126 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,956. The Census Bureau also counts 4,692 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,600; 4,692 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 233; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 25,126
Average annual pay: $48,956; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	173	25.2	1.63×More than typical	672	$77,859	380
Restaurants and other eating places	88	12.8	0.70×Fewer than typical	1,651	$19,015	25
Ambulatory health care services	81	11.8	0.57×Fewer than typical	1,126	$69,679	145
Construction of buildings	78	11.4	1.50×More than typical	443	$64,438	162
Lessors of real estate	58	8.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	125	$45,584	420
Building equipment contractors	52	7.6	1.26×More than typical	348	$68,471	46
Religious organizations	47	6.9	1.24×About typical	294	$25,020	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	45	6.6	1.30×More than typical	174	$55,034	61
Building finishing contractors	42	6.1	1.61×More than typical	82	$53,317	130
Limited-service restaurants	41	6	0.75×Fewer than typical	845	$16,333	5
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	40	5.8	1.85×More than typical	106	$79,481	69
Truck transportation	40	5.8	1.15×About typical	195	$75,923	298

Rank places for an industry Open Rice County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 68,585 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: Lonsdale is mostly in Rice County.

See federal money in Rice 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.

Lonsdale, Minnesota is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

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.

Rice County92100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Faribault-Northfield, MN94

Other cities and towns in Rice 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/2738150

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends