City · Traverse County, Minnesota

Wheaton, Minnesota

Wheaton is a city in Traverse County, Minnesota. It has 1,389 residents. Wheaton, Minnesota has a quality-of-life score of 73 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,246 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Minnesota it ranks #299 of 364 cities and towns. It ranks best on grocery stores (high), math scores (high) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on new business applications (low), flu vaccinations (low) and mental health providers (low).

73High

Quality-of-life score: #4,246 of 15,651 cities and towns
Minnesota: #299 of 364 in MN
Population: 1,389 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 799.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 2769844

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.

Safety96#698/15,637
Economy23#11,975/15,631
Housing44#8,421/14,977
Health57#6,787/15,609
Healthcare49#8,053/15,650
Environment98#350/15,453
Education90#1,597/15,649
Infrastructure18#12,832/15,650
Community95#816/15,651
Leisure & amenities63#5,787/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Grocery stores · high6.4 /10k
100/100Minnesota 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsTraverse County value
Math scores · high3.72
100/100Minnesota 3.30United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTraverse County value
Property crime rate · low155 /100k
100/100Minnesota 1,412 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationTraverse County value
Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100Minnesota 13.8 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTraverse County value
Public libraries · high6.3 /10k
99/100Minnesota 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesTraverse County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Minnesota 9.4 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTraverse County value

Weaknesses

New business applications · low5.8 /1k
0/100Minnesota 12.7 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauTraverse County value
Flu vaccinations · low19.0%
1/100Minnesota 50.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTraverse County value
Mental health providers · low32 /100k
2/100Minnesota 383 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTraverse County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Minnesota 5.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyTraverse County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Minnesota 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsTraverse County value
Distance to an emergency room · high14.9 mi
7/100Minnesota 6.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesTraverse County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,500 (2015-2019) → 1,389 (2020-2024)
−7.4%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
37.3% (2015-2019) → 73.0% (2020-2024)
+36 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
0.8 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
18.2% (2015-2019) → 33.9% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.6% (2015-2019) → 83.5% (2020-2024)
+4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.6× (2015-2019) → 1.9× (2020-2024)
+21%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Wheaton, Minnesota improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined2

Rent burden+36 points37.3% → 73.0%
Rent / income+16 points18.2% → 33.9%

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Wheaton, Minnesota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	12.7 min2015-2019	14.3 min2020-2024	+1.6 min	Within the margin of error	31%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.3%2015-2019	18.0%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	78.6%2015-2019	83.5%2020-2024	+4.8 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Effective property tax rate	1.23%2015-2019	1.30%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	9%
High school diploma or higher	91.1%2015-2019	94.6%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Home price to income ratio	1.6×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	59%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4102015-2019	0.4542020-2024	+0.044	Within the margin of error	19%
Median household income	$44,9442015-2019	$45,7812020-2024	+1.9%	Within the margin of error	9%
Poverty rate	11.6%2015-2019	15.4%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Rent as share of income	18.2%2015-2019	33.9%2020-2024	+16 points	Declined	4%
Rent-burdened households	37.3%2015-2019	73.0%2020-2024	+36 points	Declined	2%

“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 Wheaton, Minnesota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Wheaton, 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, Wheaton, Minnesota itself moved −23.8 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

1,389 residents (±121)

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

647 households (±62)

Wheaton, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Under $25k33%†214
$25k–50k19%125
$50k–75k17%110

Homes

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

Owners and renters

647 households (±62)

Wheaton, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Own77%495
Rent23%152

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

476 workers (±73)

Wheaton, Minnesota
Minnesota share

Drive alone75%355
Carpool8.8%†42
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 Traverse County, the county holding most of Wheaton's residents.

Traverse County has 121 employer establishments, 381 for every 10,000 residents (1.53× the US rate of 248; 1.42× Minnesota's), with 732 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,268. The Census Bureau also counts 246 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 121; 246 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 381; US 248 · Minnesota 268
Paid employees: 732
Average annual pay: $53,268; US $68,342

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

Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	28.3	6.45×Too few to compare	16	$56,938	6
Religious organizations	7	22	3.97×Too few to compare	29	$12,069	—
Specialty trade contractors	7	22	1.42×Too few to compare	23	$72,478	29
Ambulatory health care services	6	18.9	0.91×Too few to compare	64	$79,094	5
Gasoline stations	6	18.9	5.83×Too few to compare	29	$27,655	—
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	4	12.6	7.21×Too few to compare	11	$50,636	—
Banks and credit unions	4	12.6	3.90×Too few to compare	15	$94,667	—
Offices of other health practitioners	3	9.4	1.55×Too few to compare	4	$43,750	3
Other specialty trade contractors	3	9.4	3.76×Too few to compare	17	$83,529	6
Restaurants and other eating places	3	9.4	0.51×Too few to compare	20	$9,550	—
Truck transportation	3	9.4	1.87×Too few to compare	6	$58,500	8
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	3

Rank places for an industry Open Traverse County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 3,176 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: Wheaton is mostly in Traverse County.

See federal money in Traverse 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.

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

House

Michelle FischbachR-MN-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.4%

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.

Traverse County86100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Traverse 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/2769844

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends