A town of 26,498. Healthier than 68% of U.S. towns.
The 3 things Owatonna does most differently from other towns.
1870 · Bird's eye view of Owatonna, Steele Cou…Be the first to start the conversation.
Nothing on the calendar.
Ordered by what stands out in Owatonna. Another town gets a different order.
Owatonna beats the Minnesota average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| What stands out | Owatonna | MN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.4% | 8.9% |
56% of Owatonna’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Faribault (7%), Rochester (4%) and Waseca (2%). Half commute less than 3 miles.
The median sale price was $281,000 in May 2026.
13 miles of trails across 22 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kaplans Woods Regional Park | 6.1 mi | 156 |
| 2. Leo Rudolph Nature Reserve | 1.6 mi | 66 |
| 3. Fairgrounds Park | — | 72 |
Owatonna has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. A typical July afternoon reaches 81°, a January night drops to 6°, and about 44 inches of snow falls in a normal winter.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 37% of U.S. communities.
Owatonna reports less crime per resident than 61% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade.
The public schools Owatonna’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, trail 55% of Minnesota’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the bottom.
| School | Grades | Students | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| McKinley Elementary | K–5 | 510 | B− |
| Lincoln Elementary | K–5 | 505 | A− |
| Washington Elementary | K–5 | 468 | B+ |
| Wilson Elementary | K–5 | 454 | C |
| Owatonna Online K-6 | K–6 | 14 | Not graded |
| St. Marys School Private | PK–8 | 322 |
6 postcards, papers and photographs from public archives, and 10 places on the National Register.
10 places in Owatonna on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Minnesota, United States
Owatonna () is a city in and the county seat of Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,420 at the 2020 census. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair in August. Interstate 35 and U.S. Highways 14 and 218 are three of the main routes in the city.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Owatonna.
