Living in Elbow Lake, Minnesota: homes, schools and costs

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.1% below the U.S. average in the parts of Minnesota outside metro areas.
More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Elbow Lake 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. No public high school in town: the nearest is West Central Area Secondary, about 7 miles away.
A hospital close byStevens Community Medical Center INC in Morris, about 28 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityMinneapolis is about 149 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 Elbow Lake 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

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024: $126,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 19%Grant County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $742 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $59,792U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 69%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $1,500 a yearMinnesota: $3,357
Homes built before 1940: 24%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 85.9U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Minnesota outside metro areas)

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 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Minnesota outside metro areas, not Elbow Lake 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: 1,2762020: 1,279
Median age: 37.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more: 21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year: 10%U.S.: 6%

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

Work

Biggest lines of work: Schools, health care and social services (30%); retail (15%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (13%)
Unemployment rate: 5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute: 23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home: 7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 19%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Stevens Community Medical Center INC, Morris, MN, about 28 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Alomere Health, Alexandria, MN, about 30 miles away. 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 Elbow Lake, run by West Central Area. The nearest public high school is West Central Area Secondary, about 7 miles away.

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: 0°F
July average high: 81°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 8 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 174 a year
Rain and melted snow: 26.9 inches a year
Snow: 45 inches a year
Elevation: 1,190 feet

Weather stations: Fergus Falls (22 miles away) and Morris W Cntrl Rsch & Outreach (28 miles away, rain and snow). 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

Stevens Community Medical Center INCEmergency room28

Fargo, NDCity of 136,00073

Minneapolis, MNMetro of 3.8 million149

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: Stevens Community Medical Center INC, Fargo, Minneapolis.

Grant County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 9, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

Know Elbow Lake?

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

Fergus Falls, MN14,200 people, 21 miles
Wheaton, MN1,300 people, 28 miles
Morris, MN5,200 people, 28 miles
Alexandria, MN15,000 people, 30 miles
Parkers Prairie, MN1,000 people, 33 miles
Starbuck, MN1,400 people, 34 miles

Smaller places

Barrett, MN371 people, 6 miles
Wendell, MN165 people, 7 miles
Ashby, MN474 people, 11 miles
Dalton, MN214 people, 13 miles
Evansville, MN584 people, 14 miles
Hoffman, MN704 people, 14 miles
Herman, MN386 people, 15 miles

Sources

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.