A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Plainview$1,770/mo

Typical home $284K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.17% · or rent about $828/mo · Housing →

Montrose$2,010/mo

Typical home $324K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.14% · or rent about $1,474/mo · Housing →

The difference: $240 a month, about $2,800 a year, between Montrose and Plainview.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Montrose places higher on 10 of 20 MN lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Minnesota ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

APlainviewSafer than 91% of U.S. towns –MontroseNot graded

Schools

APlainviewBetter than 89% of districts in the state A−MontroseBetter than 80% of districts in the state

Health

BPlainviewHealthier than 57% of U.S. towns BMontroseHealthier than 63% of U.S. towns

9Plainview

10Montrose

Lists won, of 20 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Lowest depressionHealth · 273 towns #50#244 Cheapest rentCost of living · 257 towns #30#188 Fastest growingGrowth · 272 towns #174#10 Shortest commuteGetting around · 275 towns #135#260 Most new homesHousing · 239 towns #183#79 Best schoolsSchools · 230 towns #62#149 Most walkableOutdoors · 275 towns #68#157 Most conserved landOutdoors · 268 towns #221#152

Left end = #1 in Minnesota. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Plainview’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

PlainviewMontrose

Snow a year45″45″

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)20th 40th

Outdoors & history

PlainviewMontrose

Trails0 mi 0 mi

Conserved land1.8%4%

Settled—1878

National Register places—1

Archive photos—14

Community

PlainviewMontrose

Library hours a week45 hrs —

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

106 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

PlainviewMN MontroseMN

Plainview ↔ Montrose106 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Minnesota average

PlainviewMontrose

People

Population 3,500Lowest 3,888Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +4.3%Lowest MN: +7.6% +32.6%Highest MN: +7.6%

Median age 34±2.4Highest 12% below MN 32.4±2.8Lowest 16% below MN

Plainview and Montrose are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 32.1%±5.3Highest MN: 22.9% 31.1%±5.8Lowest MN: 22.9%

Plainview and Montrose are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 15.3%±3.1Highest MN: 17.3% 6.9%±2.6Lowest MN: 17.3%

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 31%Lowest MN: 39.4% 35.4%Highest MN: 39.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 3.2%±1.3Lowest MN: 5.8% 4%±3.2Highest MN: 5.8%

Montrose and Plainview are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $82,926±$8kLowest 7% below MN $102,625±$15kHighest 15% above MN

Montrose and Plainview are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $245,300±$15kLowest 26% below MN $275,700±$14kHighest 16% below MN

Rentmedian gross, monthly $828±$78Lowest 35% below MN $1,474±$400Highest 15% above MN

Property taxmedian, yearly $2,882Lowest 14% below MN $3,152Highest 6% below MN

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 49.5%±32.4Highest MN: 48.1% 29.8%±17Lowest MN: 48.1%

Plainview and Montrose are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 5.9%Highest MN: 9.3% 5.3%Lowest MN: 9.3%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 83.7%Highest MN: 72.2% 78.2%Lowest MN: 72.2%

Typical home builtmedian year 1977Lowest 2 yrs older than MN 2002Highest 23 yrs newer than MN

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 23 minLowest about the MN average 33 minHighest 44% above MN

Work from home 4.5%±2.7Lowest MN: 17.6% 8.6%±4.2Highest MN: 17.6%

Montrose and Plainview are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 17.9%Highest 1.3%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 17.8 miLowest 22.8 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.57Highest 0.16Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town Rochester (45%)Buffalo (10%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in MontroseFew work in Plainview

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 1.8%Lowest 4%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 0.1 miLowest 0.3 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.0 miLowest 0.1 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 7Highest 2Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 68.1Highest 42.1Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #62 of 230 in MN #149 of 230 in MN

School district Plainview-Elgin-MillvilleBuffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools

High school in town Plainview-Elgin-Millville HighNone in town

Students per teacherat that high school 17.5 —

Minnesota average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Plainview neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Plainview’s Town Square.

Montrose neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Montrose’s Town Square.

Add a town

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Towns like Plainview

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Grant Valley Township2,206 people · $291K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Plainview vs Montrose

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $240 more a month in Montrose

Montrose places higher on 10 of 20 MN lists

What daily life feels like in each

106 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Plainview and Montrose

Towns like Plainview

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