What stands out worked out from the figures below

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Bennington has the oldest population (median age 46).

Frankford has the most people working from home (15.6%).

What matters to you?

Pick a few. We’ll pull those rows to the top and mark which town comes out ahead on each. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Raising kidsAffordabilityOwning a homeShort commuteWorking from homeYounger crowdSettled, older crowdGrowing townOutdoorsyWalkable streets

Measure	Bennington	Frankford
People
Population	116Lowest	462Highest
Median age	46±13.7Highest 19% above MN	36.5±4.6Lowest 6% below MN
	Bennington and Frankford are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Kids under 18	23.3%±12.9Lowest MN: 22.9%	35.5%±8.5Highest MN: 22.9%
	Frankford and Bennington are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Age 65+	23.3%±16.1Highest MN: 17.3%	16.5%±0.4Lowest MN: 17.3%
	Bennington and Frankford are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+	17.9%Lowest MN: 39.4%	23.5%Highest MN: 39.4%
Enrolled in collegeshare of residents	0.9%±9 MN: 5.8%	0.9%±1.4 MN: 5.8%
Cost of living
Household incomemedian	$114,375±$33kLowest 28% above MN	$121,250±$20kHighest 36% above MN
	Frankford and Bennington are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Home valuemedian, owner-occupied	$329,200±$56kLowest about the MN average	$420,500±$57kHighest 28% above MN
	Frankford and Bennington are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Rentmedian gross, monthly	—	$1,125±$522 12% below MN
Property taxmedian, yearly	$2,833Lowest 16% below MN	$3,321Highest about the MN average
Renters paying 30%+of income on rent	100%±100Highest MN: 48.1%	0%±100Lowest MN: 48.1%
	Bennington and Frankford are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Below poverty line	1.8%Lowest MN: 9.3%	1.9%Highest MN: 9.3%
Housing
Homeownersof occupied homes	91.5%Lowest MN: 72.2%	96.2%Highest MN: 72.2%
Typical home builtmedian year	1971Lowest 8 yrs older than MN	1972Highest 7 yrs older than MN
Getting to work
Average commuteone way	23 minHighest about the MN average	23 minLowest about the MN average
Work from home	9.2%±5.4Lowest MN: 17.6%	15.6%±6.9Highest MN: 17.6%
	Frankford and Bennington are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Work in townworking residents	0%Lowest	1.1%Highest
Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line	26.8 miHighest	21.3 miLowest
Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub	0.00Lowest	0.37Highest
Top workplaceoutside town	Rochester (50%)	Rochester (43%)
Between these townsresidents who work in the others	Few work in Frankford	Few work in Bennington
Outdoors
Conserved landshare of the town	0.8%Highest	0.6%Lowest
Trailsmapped miles	0.0 miLowest	0.1 miHighest
Trail densitymiles per sq mi	0.0 mi	0.0 mi
Parks & preservesnamed on the map	1	1
Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure	1.1Lowest	1.4Highest
On TownTapestry
Old photos in History	None yet	None yet

MN average · Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020–2024; 2010 & 2020 decennial census; NCES Common Core of Data; commute flows: Census LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics. “±” is the Census margin of error. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. School rank compares math and reading proficiency against the state average.