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

B−Sauk RapidsSafer than 54% of U.S. towns DSt. CloudSafer than 14% of U.S. towns

Schools

BSauk RapidsBetter than 58% of districts in the state C−St. CloudBetter than 23% of districts in the state

Health

B+Sauk RapidsHealthier than 66% of U.S. towns B−St. CloudHealthier than 49% of U.S. towns

16Sauk Rapids

6St. Cloud

Lists won, of 23 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

SafestSafety · 166 towns #90#157 Highest graduation rateSchools · 238 towns #144#235 Best schoolsSchools · 230 towns #131#214 Rent easiest to affordCost of living · 90 towns #4#35 Most trailsOutdoors · 223 towns #73#148 Most walkableOutdoors · 275 towns #43#122 Most activeHealth · 273 towns #132#198 Fewest uninsuredHealth · 273 towns #148#206

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

Monthly cost

A typical home costs $290 more a month in Sauk Rapids

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%

Sauk Rapids$1,870/mo

Typical home $304K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.08% · or rent about $964/mo · Housing →

St. Cloud$1,570/mo

Typical home $258K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.03% · or rent about $1,003/mo · Housing →

The difference: $290 a month, about $3,500 a year, between Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud.

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.

Where they are

Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud share a border

And the people who already live in one and work in the other.

Sauk RapidsSt. Cloud

Sauk Rapids ↔ St. Cloud4.8 miles apart · They share a border

Who commutes between them

2,672 Sauk Rapids residents work in St. Cloud (39.2% of its workers)

945 St. Cloud residents work in Sauk Rapids (3.4% of its workers)

Work & commute in Sauk Rapids →

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

Sauk RapidsSt. Cloud

Snow a year48″48″

January low3°F 3°F

July high82°F 82°F

Growing season (days)144d 144d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)54th 52nd

Outdoors & history

Sauk RapidsSt. Cloud

Trails5 mi 16 mi

Conserved land3.7%5.2%

Settled1851 1856

National Register places1 14

Famous people born here6 —

Community

Sauk RapidsSt. Cloud

Library hours a week—57 hrs

Colleges in town—3

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 1

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.

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

Sauk RapidsSt. Cloud

People

Population 13,852Lowest 70,629Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +8.5%Highest MN: +7.6% +4.6%Lowest MN: +7.6%

Median age 35.3±1.6Highest 9% below MN 30.6±0.7Lowest 21% below MN

Kids under 18 26.1%±2.4Highest MN: 22.9% 21.9%±1.3Lowest MN: 22.9%

Age 65+ 12.4%±1.8Lowest MN: 17.3% 13.3%±0.9Highest MN: 17.3%

St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 29.3%Lowest MN: 39.4% 30.4%Highest MN: 39.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 7%±2Lowest MN: 5.8% 13.6%±1.1Highest MN: 5.8%

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $71,841±$7kHighest 19% below MN $61,374±$4kLowest 31% below MN

Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $256,100±$10kHighest 22% below MN $225,000±$7kLowest 32% below MN

Rentmedian gross, monthly $964±$53Lowest 25% below MN $1,003±$44Highest 22% below MN

St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Property taxmedian, yearly $2,778Highest 17% below MN $2,320Lowest 31% below MN

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 35.5%±11.9Lowest MN: 48.1% 47.5%±4.7Highest MN: 48.1%

St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 7%Lowest MN: 9.3% 20.2%Highest MN: 9.3%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 61.2%Highest MN: 72.2% 48.6%Lowest MN: 72.2%

Typical home builtmedian year 1988Highest 9 yrs newer than MN 1981Lowest 2 yrs newer than MN

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 19 minLowest 15% below MN 20 minHighest 13% below MN

Work from home 9.9%±2.4Highest MN: 17.6% 8.5%±1.2Lowest MN: 17.6%

Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 10.5%Lowest 44%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 4.3 mi 4.3 mi

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.71Lowest 1.56Highest

Top workplaceoutside town St. Cloud (39%)Waite Park (8%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others 39% work in St. Cloud3% work in Sauk Rapids

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 3.7%Lowest 5.2%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 5.3 miLowest 16.4 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.8 miHighest 0.4 miLowest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 8Lowest 47Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 76.1Highest 53.4Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #131 of 230 in MN #214 of 230 in MN

School district Benton-Stearns Education District · Sauk Rapids-Rice Public SchoolsSTRIDE Academy · MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

High school in town Sauk Rapids-Rice Senior HighTechnical Senior High

Students per teacherat that high school 19.1Highest 17.9Lowest

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.

Sauk Rapids neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Sauk Rapids’s Town Square.

St. Cloud neighborsTown Square →

T Weaver · 1w

Life Along the Mississippi

1 neighbor in St. Cloud can answer.

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Bordering Sauk Rapids

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Sauk Rapids Township453 people · $338K homes

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Sartell19,758 people · $297K homes

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Le Sauk Township1,446 people · $296K homes

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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.

Sauk Rapids vs St. Cloud

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

Sauk Rapids places higher on 16 of 23 MN lists

A typical home costs $290 more a month in Sauk Rapids

Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud share a border

What daily life feels like in each

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Life Along the Mississippi

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Bordering Sauk Rapids

Towns like Sauk Rapids

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