City · Benton County, Minnesota

Rice, Minnesota

Rice is a city in Benton County, Minnesota, part of the St. Cloud, MN metro area. It has 2,085 residents. Rice, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 82 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,895 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #223 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on income inequality (Gini index) (low), high school diploma or higher (high) and child poverty rate (low). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), public EV charging ports (low) and primary care physicians (low).

82Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,895 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #223 of 364 in MN
Population: 2,085 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 365.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 2753998

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.

Safety68#5,026/15,637
Economy91#1,389/15,631
Housing90#1,500/14,977
Health70#4,675/15,609
Healthcare33#10,530/15,650
Environment93#1,069/15,453
Education78#3,378/15,649
Infrastructure54#7,275/15,650
Community75#3,958/15,651
Leisure & amenities22#12,209/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Rice, Minnesota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Benton 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) · low0.280
100/100Minnesota 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
High school diploma or higher · high96.7%
96/100Minnesota 93.9%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Child poverty rate · low1.7%
95/100Minnesota 9.6%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Loneliness · low29.6%
94/100Minnesota 32.1%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Mammography screening · high56.0%
94/100Minnesota 54.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Poverty rate · low3.0%
94/100Minnesota 9.3%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low36 /100k
3/100Minnesota 383 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Minnesota 5.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyBenton County value
Primary care physicians · low29 /100k
11/100Minnesota 90 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Grocery stores · low1.0 /10k
12/100Minnesota 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBenton County value
Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
14/100Minnesota 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesBenton County value
Restaurants and bars · low5.5 /10k
15/100Minnesota 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBenton County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,633 (2015-2019) → 2,085 (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
14.8 /1k (2021) → 3.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−74%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
42.3% (2015-2019) → 28.6% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$75,598 (2015-2019) → $107,692 (2020-2024)
+42%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
22.2% (2015-2019) → 28.8% (2020-2024)
+6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateImproving
6.6% (2015-2019) → 1.7% (2020-2024)
−4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Rice, Minnesota improved on 1 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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

Household income+42%$75,598 → $107,692

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Rice, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.1 min2015-2019	24.2 min2020-2024	+2.1 min	Within the margin of error	26%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.2%2015-2019	28.8%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Broadband subscriptions	94.0%2015-2019	90.1%2020-2024	−3.9 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Effective property tax rate	1.10%2015-2019	0.92%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	55%
High school diploma or higher	93.9%2015-2019	96.7%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	64%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.2722015-2019	0.2802020-2024	+0.008	Within the margin of error	43%
Median household income	$75,5982015-2019	$107,6922020-2024	+42%	Improved	77%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	23.5%2015-2019	21.1%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	71%

“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 Rice, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rice, 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, Rice, Minnesota itself moved −2.5 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

2,085 residents (±219)

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 (±72)

Rice, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k5.6%†42
$25k–50k7.0%†52
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

746 households (±72)

Rice, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own89%661
Rent11%†85

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

1,214 workers (±147)

Rice, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone80%968
Carpool5.2%†63
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 St. Cloud, 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 Benton County, the county holding most of Rice's residents.

Benton County has 975 employer establishments, 234 for every 10,000 residents (0.94× the US rate of 248; 0.87× Minnesota's), with 16,944 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,659. The Census Bureau also counts 2,944 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 975; 2,944 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 234; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 16,944
Average annual pay: $53,659; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	131	31.5	2.04×More than typical	2,017	$83,979	200
Construction of buildings	46	11.1	1.46×More than typical	313	$81,546	90
Building equipment contractors	42	10.1	1.68×More than typical	1,622	$83,914	25
Lessors of real estate	40	9.6	0.78×Fewer than typical	49	$44,204	306
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	39	9.4	2.98×More than typical	202	$79,342	40
Restaurants and other eating places	39	9.4	0.51×Fewer than typical	810	$18,831	7
Truck transportation	39	9.4	1.85×More than typical	195	$62,415	201
Ambulatory health care services	37	8.9	0.43×Fewer than typical	412	$41,201	98
Automotive repair and maintenance	36	8.7	1.72×More than typical	108	$48,370	59
Religious organizations	34	8.2	1.47×More than typical	266	$23,350	—
Other specialty trade contractors	28	6.7	2.68×More than typical	112	$113,080	65
Services to buildings and dwellings	26	6.3	0.93×About typical	129	$68,202	144

Rank places for an industry Open Benton County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 41,580 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 Rice, 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

1.5KFY2017
258.9FY2021

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

Rice, Minnesota's figures are part of those of Benton County, MN ($805.8K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Benton 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.

Rice, 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.

Benton County82100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

St. Cloud, MN89

Other cities and towns in Benton 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/2753998

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends