City · Fillmore County, Minnesota

Rushford, Minnesota

Rushford is a city in Fillmore County, Minnesota, part of the Rochester, MN metro area. It has 1,826 residents. Rushford, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 94 out of 100 (very high), ranking #956 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #69 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on property crime rate (low), social associations (high) and violent crime rate (low). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), mental health providers (low) and distance to an emergency room (high).

94Very high

Quality-of-life score: #956 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #69 of 364 in MN
Population: 1,826 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,106.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2756284

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.

Safety100#68/15,637
Economy63#5,813/15,631
Housing68#4,763/14,977
Health73#4,181/15,609
Healthcare63#5,814/15,650
Environment91#1,371/15,453
Education93#1,171/15,649
Infrastructure52#7,446/15,650
Community100#31/15,651
Leisure & amenities89#1,679/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Property crime rate · low68 /100k
100/100Minnesota 1,412 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureFillmore County value
Social associations · high29.7 /10k
100/100Minnesota 12.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFillmore County value
Violent crime rate · low28 /100k
100/100Minnesota 224 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureFillmore County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Minnesota 9.4 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataFillmore County value
Food environment index · high9.5
97/100Minnesota 9.1United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFillmore County value
Public libraries · high3.3 /10k
97/100Minnesota 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesFillmore County value

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$878
4/100Minnesota $1,480United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFillmore County value
Mental health providers · low47 /100k
5/100Minnesota 383 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFillmore County value
Distance to an emergency room · high16.5 mi
6/100Minnesota 6.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesFillmore County value
Distance to an airport · high100 mi
10/100Minnesota 43 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauFillmore County value
Primary care physicians · low33 /100k
14/100Minnesota 90 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFillmore County value
Natural hazard risk · high77.9
20/100Minnesota 27.82025Federal Emergency Management AgencyFillmore County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
2.9 /1k (2021) → 0.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−81%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$49,559 (2015-2019) → $76,638 (2020-2024)
+55%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.6% (2015-2019) → 89.4% (2020-2024)
+9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
49.4% (2015-2019) → 40.6% (2020-2024)
−8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
6.3% (2015-2019) → 12.8% (2020-2024)
+6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
21.8% (2015-2019) → 28.2% (2020-2024)
+6.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Rushford, Minnesota improved on 3 of 12 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.

Improved3

Household income+55%$49,559 → $76,638
Bachelor's++6.3 points21.8% → 28.2%
Broadband+9.8 points79.6% → 89.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Rushford, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.1 min2015-2019	23.7 min2020-2024	+2.6 min	Within the margin of error	22%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.8%2015-2019	28.2%2020-2024	+6.3 points	Improved	76%
Broadband subscriptions	79.6%2015-2019	89.4%2020-2024	+9.8 points	Improved	59%
Effective property tax rate	1.11%2015-2019	1.18%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	8%
High school diploma or higher	89.4%2015-2019	94.7%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	−0.2×	Within the margin of error	88%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3822015-2019	0.3692020-2024	−0.014	Within the margin of error	63%
Median household income	$49,5592015-2019	$76,6382020-2024	+55%	Improved	88%
Poverty rate	6.7%2015-2019	9.5%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Rent as share of income	29.7%2015-2019	23.9%2020-2024	−5.8 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Rent-burdened households	49.4%2015-2019	40.6%2020-2024	−8.8 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.4%2015-2019	2.9%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	64%

“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 Rushford, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rushford, 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, Rushford, Minnesota itself moved +11.9 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

1,826 residents (±145)

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

764 households (±75)

Rushford, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k17%†127
$25k–50k17%132
$50k–75k14%†104

Homes

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

Owners and renters

764 households (±75)

Rushford, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own72%549
Rent28%215

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

869 workers (±117)

Rushford, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone84%726
Carpool5.2%†45
Public transit0.6%†5

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 Rochester, 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 Fillmore County, the county holding most of Rushford's residents.

Fillmore County has 577 employer establishments, 268 for every 10,000 residents (1.08× the US rate of 248; 1.00× Minnesota's), with 4,608 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,941. The Census Bureau also counts 1,804 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 577; 1,804 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 268; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 4,608
Average annual pay: $44,941; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	47	21.9	1.41×More than typical	185	$59,054	183
Religious organizations	40	18.6	3.35×More than typical	106	$17,179	—
Restaurants and other eating places	34	15.8	0.86×About typical	281	$16,377	4
Construction of buildings	25	11.6	1.54×More than typical	54	$48,315	137
Ambulatory health care services	22	10.2	0.49×Fewer than typical	133	$49,158	28
Full-service restaurants	20	9.3	1.21×About typical	195	$16,497	3
Building equipment contractors	16	7.4	1.24×About typical	66	$54,788	12
Automotive repair and maintenance	15	7	1.39×More than typical	45	$44,844	29
Banks and credit unions	14	6.5	2.02×More than typical	137	$74,511	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	14	6.5	1.48×More than typical	52	$59,712	29
Traveler accommodation	14	6.5	3.61×More than typical	52	$22,096	19
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	13	6	1.92×More than typical	13	$83,692	24

Rank places for an industry Open Fillmore County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 21,497 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 $201 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Rushford, Minnesota: $0.11 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $201
Per resident: $0.11; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; 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

Rural Housing Service$201100%

Top recipients

PINNACLE APPRAISALS LLC$201100%

Spending by fiscal year

-757.2FY2017
201.4FY2026

What was bought

Professional services$201100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Activities related to real estate · 5313$201100%

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

Rushford, Minnesota's figures are part of those of Fillmore County, MN ($669.7K 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: Rushford is mostly in Fillmore County.

See federal money in Fillmore 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.

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

House

Brad FinstadR-MN-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 0.9%

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.

Fillmore County95100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Rochester, MN100

Other cities and towns in Fillmore 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/2756284

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends