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Towns / Minnesota

Baldwin, Minnesota

Baldwin is a small town of about 7,200 people in Sherburne County, Minnesota. It has grown about 4% since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Minneapolis, is about 41 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
7,231
up 4.2% since 2020
Prices, Minneapolis area
104.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Fairview Northland Regional Hospital
To Minneapolis
41 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.8% above the U.S. average in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Baldwin to say.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Baldwin itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town1 public school.
  • A hospital close byFairview Northland Regional Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMinneapolis is about 41 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Baldwin meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Home prices since then
Up 11%Sherburne County, 2022 to 2025
Everyday prices
104.8U.S. average = 100 (the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 11% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area, not Baldwin alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
7,2312020: 6,942

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Fairview Northland Regional Hospital, Princeton, MN, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Baldwin, run by Princeton Public School District.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Minnesota's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
4°F
July average high
81°F
Days 90°F or hotter
7 a year
Nights at or below freezing
170 a year
Rain and melted snow
30.7 inches a year
Snow
49 inches a year
Elevation
968 feet

Weather station: Santiago 3 E (10 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Coon Rapids, Minneapolis.

Sherburne County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Mississippi National River and Recreation Area19 miles
  • Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway32 miles
  • Lower Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway41 miles

Read about Baldwin's history on Wikipedia.

Know Baldwin?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Pease, MN249 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.