Living in Ely, MN
Ely is a small town of 3,240 people in St. Louis County, Minnesota. It's about 79 miles from Duluth, MN and 214 miles from Minneapolis, MN, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 78°F and winter highs 16°F, with about 65 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $157k and rent runs about $627 a month.
3,240people
$157kTypical home
$627/moRent
78° / 16°Summer / winter
65"Snow
189Sunny days
139Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small town of 3,240
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 1,108 people per sq mi
- 214 mi to Minneapolis, MN
- 79 mi to Duluth, MN
- 62 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $157k (≈$992/mo)
- Median rent $627/mo
- Median household income $44k
- Property tax about 0.8% of value
- 3.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 78°F
- Winter highs around 16°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 54°F)
- 189 sunny days a year (29 totally clear)
- 176 cloudy days a year
- 54 of 90 winter days are gray
- 139 days a year with rain or snow
- 65" of snow a year
- 21 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 81 nights a year below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Low violent crime (183 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,320 per 100k)
People
- Median age 52
- 11% of households have kids
- 27% are 65 or older
- 32% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 10% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 17 min
- 18% walk or take transit to work
- 58 mi to HIB airport
- 219 mi to MSP (major hub)
- 195 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 69% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1942
- 89% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 1,408 ft
- 532 mi to the ocean
- 41 mi to a big lake
- 5 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 31 mi to the nearest ski area
- 4 mi to the nearest campground
- 4 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 10 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 3 bars within 25 mi
- Few or no coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 4 museums within 25 mi
- No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 77 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 24% of Minnesota districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 8 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 36 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 14 mi to the nearest dog park
- 8 congregations per 10k people
- 74 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- St. Louis County: D+14 in 2024
- Minnesota: D+4 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Very low tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- Low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Very low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk