St. Cloud, MN
St. Cloud, MN Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole St. Cloud, MN Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, St. Cloud ranks 90th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 150th for income. A household earns $75,688 a year while median rent runs $1,039/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (22nd of 300), while education is the soft spot (216th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 57th and home prices 133rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in St. Cloud, your take-home is worth about $65,846 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 150th of 300↑14.5%$75,688
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 22nd of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $86,370
- Per-capita income
- $37,224
- Full-time pay
- $45,034
Housing
- Median rent
- 57th of 300↑22.4%$1,039/mo
- Home value
- 133rd of 300↑41.2%$289,200
- Property tax
- $2,845/yr · 1%
- Sales tax
- 8.13%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 72nd of 3003.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 216th of 30028.5%
- Avg commute
- 72nd of 30022 min
People
- Population
- 205,878
- Population change
- +1.9%
- Median age
- 35.4 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7.3%
- Broadband
- 91.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 52nd of 30039
- Natural-hazard loss
- 149th of 300$12/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 77th of 30016.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8.2%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Education
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — st cloud rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in St. Cloud
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $249,300
- Pharmacists
- $147,530
- IT managers
- $142,510
- Financial managers
- $135,760
- Lawyers
- $118,860
- Registered nurses
- $105,290
- Software developers
- $103,000
- Civil engineers
- $96,120
- Plumbers
- $90,230
- General & operations managers
- $89,700
- Electricians
- $81,890
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,720
- Police officers
- $76,880
- Secondary school teachers
- $76,170
- Elementary school teachers
- $73,160
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $61,960
- Carpenters
- $60,600
- Construction laborers
- $57,820
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $56,120
- Customer service reps
- $48,120
- Janitors
- $37,760
- Retail salespersons
- $34,860
- Cashiers
- $32,480
- Waiters & waitresses
- $23,520
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the St. Cloud metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Minnesota are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Wisconsin478
- North Dakota325
- Kentucky278
- Washington211
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like St. Cloud
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
St. Cloud metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the St. Cloud metro?
- Median gross rent across the St. Cloud, MN Metro Area is $1,039 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of St. Cloud.
- What is the median household income in the St. Cloud metro?
- A typical household in the St. Cloud, MN Metro Area earns $75,688 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is St. Cloud expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the St. Cloud, MN Metro Area runs about 12% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the St. Cloud metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $86,370 (versus its face value of $75,688). CityLedger rates the St. Cloud, MN Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the St. Cloud metro?
- The median home value across the St. Cloud, MN Metro Area is $289,200 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the St. Cloud metro?
- The unemployment rate in the St. Cloud, MN Metro Area is 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).