Living in Elbow Lake, MN
Elbow Lake is a small town of 1,301 people in Grant County, Minnesota. It's about 73 miles from Fargo, ND and 149 miles from Minneapolis, MN, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 81°F and winter highs 19°F, with about 41 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $127k and rent runs about $742 a month.
1,301people
$127kTypical home
$742/moRent
81° / 19°Summer / winter
41"Snow
238Sunny days
71Rain/snow days
Is Elbow Lake right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Small town of 1,301
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 940 people per sq mi
- 149 mi to Minneapolis, MN
- 73 mi to Fargo, ND
- 21 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $127k (≈$800/mo)
- Median rent $742/mo
- Median household income $60k
- Property tax about 1.2% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 81°F
- Winter highs around 19°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 57°F)
- 238 sunny days a year (78 totally clear)
- 127 cloudy days a year
- 37 of 90 winter days are gray
- 71 days a year with rain or snow
- 41" of snow a year
- 14 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 67 nights a year below 10°F
- Windier than most places
Safety
- Very low violent crime (65 per 100k), county-wide
- Very low property crime (33 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 38
- 34% of households have kids
- 19% are 65 or older
- 21% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 2% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 25 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 76 mi to FAR airport
- 154 mi to MSP (major hub)
- 58 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 78% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1958
- 93% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 1,207 ft
- 766 mi to the ocean
- 32 mi to a big lake
- 26 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 19 mi to the nearest ski area
- 4 mi to the nearest campground
- 4 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 15 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- Few or no bars within 25 mi
- 5 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 16 museums within 25 mi
- 2 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 53 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 16% of Minnesota districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 1 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 29 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 20 mi to the nearest dog park
- 23 congregations per 10k people
- 28 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Grant County: R+31 in 2024
- Minnesota: D+4 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Very low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk