City · Wright County, Minnesota

Montrose, Minnesota

Montrose is a city in Wright County, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area. It has 3,888 residents. Montrose, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 92 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,216 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #95 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on income inequality (Gini index) (low), math scores (high) and voter turnout (high). It ranks worst on mental health care shortage (high), grocery stores (low) and days with unhealthy air (high).

92Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,216 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #95 of 364 in MN
Population: 3,888 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,263.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 2743810

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.

Safety99#123/15,637
Economy79#3,332/15,631
Housing91#1,369/14,977
Health76#3,690/15,609
Healthcare55#6,974/15,650
Environment70#4,602/15,453
Education93#1,165/15,649
Infrastructure68#5,067/15,650
Community95#771/15,651
Leisure & amenities37#9,885/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.278
100/100Minnesota 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Math scores · high3.62
99/100Minnesota 3.30United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWright County value
Voter turnout · high85.5%
99/100Minnesota 77.0%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionWright County value
Food environment index · high9.8
99/100Minnesota 9.1United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWright County value
Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Minnesota 3.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWright County value
Violent crime rate · low43 /100k
98/100Minnesota 224 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationWright County value

Weaknesses

Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Minnesota 8.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationWright County value
Grocery stores · low0.9 /10k
9/100Minnesota 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWright County value
Days with unhealthy air · high2.9%
14/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyWright County value
Distance to an emergency room · high10.4 mi
15/100Minnesota 6.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWright County value
Primary care physicians · low36 /100k
17/100Minnesota 90 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWright County value
Restaurants and bars · low6.2 /10k
22/100Minnesota 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWright County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,182 (2015-2019) → 3,888 (2020-2024)
+22%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
52.2% (2015-2019) → 29.8% (2020-2024)
−22 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
20.7% (2015-2019) → 35.4% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
New homes permittedWorsening
10.8 /1k (2021) → 6.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−43%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$72,875 (2015-2019) → $102,625 (2020-2024)
+41%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
30.8% (2015-2019) → 22.8% (2020-2024)
−8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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

Improved4

Bachelor's++15 points20.7% → 35.4%
Inequality−0.0710.349 → 0.278
Household income+41%$72,875 → $102,625
Broadband+5.8 points89.0% → 94.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Montrose, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	36.4 min2015-2019	32.8 min2020-2024	−3.7 min	Within the margin of error	83%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.7%2015-2019	35.4%2020-2024	+15 points	Improved	97%
Broadband subscriptions	89.0%2015-2019	94.8%2020-2024	+5.8 points	Improved	37%
Effective property tax rate	1.13%2015-2019	1.12%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	18%
High school diploma or higher	94.2%2015-2019	90.6%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	63%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3492015-2019	0.2782020-2024	−0.071	Improved	90%
Median household income	$72,8752015-2019	$102,6252020-2024	+41%	Improved	75%
Poverty rate	9.5%2015-2019	5.3%2020-2024	−4.2 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Rent as share of income	30.8%2015-2019	22.8%2020-2024	−8 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Rent-burdened households	52.2%2015-2019	29.8%2020-2024	−22 points	Within the margin of error	95%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.6%2015-2019	4.0%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	54%

“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 Montrose, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Montrose, 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, Montrose, Minnesota itself moved +11.7 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

3,888 residents (±23)

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

1,351 households (±110)

Montrose, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k6.0%†81
$25k–50k7.6%†103
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,351 households (±110)

Montrose, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own78%1,057
Rent22%†294

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

1,950 workers (±188)

Montrose, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone83%1,626
Carpool6.2%†120
Public transit0.9%†

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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, 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 Wright County, the county holding most of Montrose's residents.

Wright County has 3,680 employer establishments, 243 for every 10,000 residents (0.98× the US rate of 248; 0.91× Minnesota's), with 42,944 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,346. The Census Bureau also counts 11,758 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,680; 11,758 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 243; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 42,944
Average annual pay: $54,346; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	537	35.5	2.29×More than typical	3,239	$79,642	1,020
Ambulatory health care services	204	13.5	0.65×Fewer than typical	2,119	$72,109	422
Construction of buildings	197	13	1.72×More than typical	671	$76,976	389
Restaurants and other eating places	173	11.4	0.62×Fewer than typical	3,917	$19,951	17
Services to buildings and dwellings	172	11.4	1.69×More than typical	1,062	$52,536	561
Lessors of real estate	155	10.2	0.83×About typical	232	$45,284	1,095
Building finishing contractors	149	9.8	2.59×More than typical	799	$61,901	374
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	138	9.1	2.89×More than typical	1,213	$78,031	183
Building equipment contractors	135	8.9	1.48×More than typical	772	$73,606	129
Other specialty trade contractors	115	7.6	3.03×More than typical	455	$125,330	334
Landscaping services	109	7.2	2.06×More than typical	611	$62,933	197
Truck transportation	109	7.2	1.42×More than typical	690	$78,745	280

Rank places for an industry Open Wright County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 151,374 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: Montrose is mostly in Wright County.

See federal money in Wright 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.

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

House

Tom EmmerR-MN-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 1.3%

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.

Wright County96100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI93

Other cities and towns in Wright 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/2743810

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends