City · Pine County, Minnesota

Rock Creek, Minnesota

Rock Creek is a city in Pine County, Minnesota. It has 1,748 residents. Rock Creek, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 52 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,499 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #356 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low), income inequality (Gini index) (low) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on rent as share of income (high), preventable hospital stays (high) and pharmacies (low).

52Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,499 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #356 of 364 in MN
Population: 1,748 (2020-2024)
Land area: 43 mi²
Density: 40.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2754934

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety55#7,030/15,637
Economy63#5,719/15,631
Housing40#8,935/14,977
Health42#9,039/15,609
Healthcare17#13,058/15,650
Environment96#631/15,453
Education54#7,205/15,649
Infrastructure23#12,046/15,650
Community78#3,376/15,651
Leisure & amenities43#8,862/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.4 µg/m³
99/100Minnesota 6.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPine County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.333
97/100Minnesota 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Time spent in the emergency room · low102 min
96/100Minnesota 134 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPine County value
Hot days · low2 days
94/100Minnesota 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPine County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Minnesota 2.9 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataPine County value
High school diploma or higher · high93.6%
92/100Minnesota 93.9%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Weaknesses

Rent as share of income · high51.0%
2/100Minnesota 29.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071At least this value: the publisher's top bracket is open-ended
Preventable hospital stays · high4,933 /100k
2/100Minnesota 2,419 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePine County value
Pharmacies · low0.3 /10k
3/100Minnesota 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPine County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Minnesota 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPine County value
Average weekly wage · low$891
5/100Minnesota $1,480United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPine County value
Primary care physicians · low20 /100k
5/100Minnesota 90 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePine County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,620 (2015-2019) → 1,748 (2020-2024)
+7.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
30.8% (2015-2019) → 60.9% (2020-2024)
+30 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
26.5% (2015-2019) → 51.0% (2020-2024)
+25 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
80.2% (2015-2019) → 89.2% (2020-2024)
+9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
6.9 /1k (2021) → 4.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−42%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$72,143 (2015-2019) → $94,856 (2020-2024)
+31%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, Rock Creek, Minnesota improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 6 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved2

Household income+31%$72,143 → $94,856
Broadband+9 points80.2% → 89.2%

Declined2

Rent / income+25 points26.5% → 51.0%
Price / income+0.6×2.7× → 3.4×

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Rock Creek, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	32.4 min2015-2019	33.2 min2020-2024	+0.7 min	Within the margin of error	39%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.2%2015-2019	18.0%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Broadband subscriptions	80.2%2015-2019	89.2%2020-2024	+9 points	Improved	55%
Effective property tax rate	0.97%2015-2019	0.73%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	66%
High school diploma or higher	91.2%2015-2019	93.6%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.4×2020-2024	+0.6×	Declined	39%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3302015-2019	0.3332020-2024	+0.003	Within the margin of error	48%
Median household income	$72,1432015-2019	$94,8562020-2024	+31%	Improved	58%
Poverty rate	5.4%2015-2019	8.8%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Rent as share of income	26.5%2015-2019	51.0%2020-2024	+25 points	Declined	1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.5%2015-2019	4.0%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	53%

“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 Rock Creek, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rock Creek, 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, Rock Creek, Minnesota itself moved −8 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

1,748 residents (±229)

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

601 households (±67)

Rock Creek, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k12%†71
$25k–50k7.7%†46
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

601 households (±67)

Rock Creek, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own96%578
Rent3.8%†23

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Rent (−9.9 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

871 workers (±110)

Rock Creek, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone81%709
Carpool8.4%†73
Public transit0.0%0

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 Pine County, the county holding most of Rock Creek's residents.

Pine County has 627 employer establishments, 208 for every 10,000 residents (0.84× the US rate of 248; 0.77× Minnesota's), with 6,406 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,399. The Census Bureau also counts 1,830 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 627; 1,830 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 208; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 6,406
Average annual pay: $42,399; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	75	24.8	1.60×More than typical	218	$74,142	206
Restaurants and other eating places	40	13.2	0.72×Fewer than typical	598	$20,174	4
Construction of buildings	30	9.9	1.31×More than typical	82	$52,878	88
Religious organizations	25	8.3	1.49×More than typical	93	$16,677	—
Full-service restaurants	24	7.9	1.04×About typical	347	$21,150	—
Ambulatory health care services	23	7.6	0.37×Fewer than typical	299	$60,579	43
Other specialty trade contractors	23	7.6	3.04×More than typical	30	$119,800	59
Gasoline stations	21	7	2.15×More than typical	320	$23,991	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	21	7	1.03×About typical	106	$27,575	112
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	20	6.6	2.10×More than typical	88	$74,477	39
Building equipment contractors	19	6.3	1.05×About typical	39	$61,538	37
Limited-service restaurants	16	5.3	0.66×Fewer than typical	251	$18,825	—

Rank places for an industry Open Pine County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 30,190 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 $47.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Rock Creek, Minnesota: $27.26 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $47.6K; +14% vs FY2025
Per resident: $27.26; US $1,994
Sole-source: 5.6%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

National Park Service$45K94%
Federal Aviation Administration$2,6525.6%

Top recipients

BRUCE KREOFSKY & SONS INC$45K94%
TOWER SOLUTIONS LLC$2,6525.6%

Spending by fiscal year

882.8FY2017
5KFY2018
-7.5FY2020
10.5KFY2021
6.8KFY2022
8.1KFY2024
41.9KFY2025
47.6KFY2026

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$45K94%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$2,6525.6%

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 Rock Creek, Minnesota, so they do not add up across cities.

Rock Creek, Minnesota's figures are part of those of Pine County, MN ($1.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.6% of that total.

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

See federal money in Pine 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.

Rock Creek, 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.

Pine County52100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Pine 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/2754934

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends