Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Minnesota

Lonsdale, Minnesota

Lonsdale is a small town of about 5,100 people in Rice County, Minnesota. It has grown about 9% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Minneapolis, is about 34 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
5,117
up 8.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$357,000
Rice County prices up 13% since 2022
Household income
$95,176
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Minnesota
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
9 miles
New Prague, MN
To Minneapolis
34 mi
straight line

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 3.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 1.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Tri-City United High School, about 8 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMayo Clinic Health System New Prague in New Prague, about 9 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMinneapolis is about 34 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 Lonsdale 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
$357,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 13%Rice County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$906 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$95,176U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
92%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,726 a yearMinnesota: $3,357
Homes built before 1940
5%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
19%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%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 13% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Minnesota outside metro areas, not Lonsdale 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
5,1172020: 4,710
Median age
30.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
10%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
36%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
25%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%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 (23%); retail (15%); construction (12%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
32 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
13%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
1%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mayo Clinic Health System New Prague, New Prague, MN, about 9 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Northfield Hospital, Northfield, MN, about 12 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 Lonsdale, run by Tri-City United School District. The nearest public high school is Tri-City United High School, about 8 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.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
92%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
98%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

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

Weather

January average low
5°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
9 a year
Nights at or below freezing
168 a year
Rain and melted snow
34.6 inches a year
Snow
39 inches a year
Elevation
1,122 feet

Weather stations: Faribault (14 miles away) and Montgomery (12 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

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: Mayo Clinic Health System New Prague, Lakeville, Minneapolis.

Rice County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, 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.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Mississippi National River and Recreation Area28 miles
  • Lower Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway51 miles

Read about Lonsdale's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lonsdale?

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

  • Heidelberg, MN134 people, 10 miles
  • Kilkenny, MN153 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.