City · Kanabec County, Minnesota

Mora, Minnesota

Mora is a city in Kanabec County, Minnesota. It has 3,732 residents. Mora, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 59 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,379 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #347 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on preventable hospital stays (high), pharmacies (low) and broadband subscriptions (low).

59Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,379 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #347 of 364 in MN
Population: 3,732 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 722.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 2744044

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.

Safety79#3,285/15,637
Economy39#9,607/15,631
Housing64#5,403/14,977
Health39#9,480/15,609
Healthcare44#8,773/15,650
Environment96#691/15,453
Education59#6,344/15,649
Infrastructure14#13,437/15,650
Community77#3,537/15,651
Leisure & amenities40#9,355/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Job growth · high11.5%
100/100Minnesota -0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataKanabec County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.9 µg/m³
96/100Minnesota 6.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyKanabec County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Minnesota 2.9 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataKanabec County value
Property crime rate · low429 /100k
92/100Minnesota 1,412 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationKanabec County value
Hot days · low3 days
90/100Minnesota 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationKanabec County value
Voter turnout · high75.9%
88/100Minnesota 77.0%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionKanabec County value

Weaknesses

Preventable hospital stays · high6,547 /100k
0/100Minnesota 2,419 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKanabec County value
Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Minnesota 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsKanabec County value
Broadband subscriptions · low80.4%
5/100Minnesota 91.6%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Access to exercise opportunities · low44.2%
7/100Minnesota 86.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKanabec County value
Traffic deaths · high26.8 /100k
10/100Minnesota 7.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataKanabec County value
Comfortable days · low23.3%
11/100Minnesota 23.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationKanabec County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,490 (2015-2019) → 3,732 (2020-2024)
+6.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
2.0 /1k (2021) → 0.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−59%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Average commute timeWorsening
17.8 min (2015-2019) → 26.4 min (2020-2024)
+48%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
51.2% (2015-2019) → 41.6% (2020-2024)
−9.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
30.4% (2015-2019) → 24.5% (2020-2024)
−5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$41,929 (2015-2019) → $52,535 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Mora, Minnesota improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Commute+8.6 min17.8 min → 26.4 min

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Mora, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.8 min2015-2019	26.4 min2020-2024	+8.6 min	Declined	3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.9%2015-2019	16.7%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Broadband subscriptions	78.6%2015-2019	80.4%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Effective property tax rate	1.13%2015-2019	1.39%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	2%
High school diploma or higher	90.1%2015-2019	87.6%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Home price to income ratio	3.3×2015-2019	3.3×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	79%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3892015-2019	0.4272020-2024	+0.038	Within the margin of error	22%
Median household income	$41,9292015-2019	$52,5352020-2024	+25%	Within the margin of error	45%
Poverty rate	14.8%2015-2019	16.6%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Rent as share of income	30.4%2015-2019	24.5%2020-2024	−5.9 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Rent-burdened households	51.2%2015-2019	41.6%2020-2024	−9.7 points	Within the margin of error	82%

“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 Mora, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Mora, 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, Mora, Minnesota itself moved −5.9 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

3,732 residents (±50)

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

1,610 households (±108)

Mora, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k25%396
$25k–50k25%400
$50k–75k19%†299

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,610 households (±108)

Mora, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own61%978
Rent39%632

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,583 workers (±190)

Mora, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone69%1,091
Carpool11%†179
Public transit1.7%†27

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 Kanabec County, the county holding most of Mora's residents.

Kanabec County has 314 employer establishments, 189 for every 10,000 residents (0.76× the US rate of 248; 0.70× Minnesota's), with 3,371 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,658. The Census Bureau also counts 1,133 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 314; 1,133 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 189; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 3,371
Average annual pay: $51,658; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	38	22.8	1.47×More than typical	171	$82,474	129
Restaurants and other eating places	19	11.4	0.62×Fewer than typical	269	$18,104	—
Religious organizations	18	10.8	1.95×More than typical	73	$17,000	—
Ambulatory health care services	16	9.6	0.46×Fewer than typical	147	$51,966	35
Other specialty trade contractors	13	7.8	3.11×More than typical	13	$95,154	42
Construction of buildings	12	7.2	0.95×About typical	52	$108,365	61
Building equipment contractors	11	6.6	1.10×About typical	151	$73,570	13
Full-service restaurants	11	6.6	0.86×About typical	152	$18,882	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	11	6.6	0.98×About typical	31	$67,194	59
Truck transportation	11	6.6	1.31×More than typical	19	$56,158	61
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	9	5.4	1.72×Too few to compare	1	$1,406,000	35
Automotive repair and maintenance	8	4.8	0.95×Too few to compare	26	$59,577	32

Rank places for an industry Open Kanabec County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,650 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 Mora, 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

79.8FY2017
824.7FY2020

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

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

See federal money in Kanabec 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.

Mora, 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.

Kanabec County68100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Kanabec 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/2744044

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends