Moving to Empire
Dakota County gains about 3.7 residents per 1,000 a year to moves between counties.
Where people come from and where they go, top counties
Within Minnesota, other states or abroad
Income per tax return
People on tax returns who moved between counties, from IRS migration data, 2022 to 2023. Figures are for all of Dakota County; flows under 20 returns are not published.
- Who moves here
- 6.5% of residents arrived from another county in the past year, 1.4% from another state. County figure.
- Who arrives and who leaves
- Households moving into Dakota County report $75,700 a year in income on average; those leaving, $74,900.
- Income you would need
- $82,100 a year to rent the median home at the 30% line. From your city
- Rent or buy
- Median rent is $2,052 a month; owners with a mortgage pay $2,593 a month including taxes and insurance, on a median home of $469,500.
- Getting to work
- 30 minutes each way on average; 20.1% work from home; 1.2% take transit.
- If it is close but not quite
- Savannah, TX matches it on character. Compare the two
All 5 moving measures
| Measure | Empire | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moved here in the past year1County figure | 6.5% | 14% above | |
| Moved from another state1County figure | 1.4% | 28% below | |
| Net movers per 1,000 people8County figure | 3.7 | above (median -0.6) | |
| Income of households moving in8County figure | $75,745 | 7% above | |
| Income of households moving out8County figure | $74,922 | 7% above |
What it costs to live here
Homeownership is 94.3%, 42% above the median place.
Could you afford it?
Uses the median rent in Empire, $2,052 a month, and local prices for everything else (103.4 against a US average of 100). It runs in your browser and stores nothing.
Like Empire, but easier on the budget
Close matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, where rent takes a clearly smaller share of income.
Moving from somewhere else? Work out the salary you would need in Empire.
All 16 cost and housing measures
| Measure | Empire | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median gross rent1 | $2,052 | 50% above | |
| Rent to income1 | 16.7% | 18% below | |
| Property tax rate1 | 1.0% | 5% above | |
| Home price to income1 | 3.2x | 16% below | |
| Prices vs US average2Metro figure | 104.8 | 4% above | |
| Fair market rent, 2 bedrooms3County figure | $1,734 | 7% above | |
| HUD area median income4County figure | $131,500 | 23% above | |
| Property tax paid (median)1 | $4,505 | 38% above | |
| Median home value1 | $469,500 | 47% above | |
| Home prices, 1-year change5County figure | 1.5% | 53% below | |
| Home prices, 5-year change5County figure | 32.3% | 37% below | |
| Homeownership1 | 94.3% | 42% above | |
| Renters paying 30%+1County figure | 49.8% | 2% below | |
| Owner costs with a mortgage1 | $2,593 | 39% above | |
| Vacant homes1County figure | 2.5% | 64% below | |
| Median year built1 | 1997 | 1% above |
Work and pay
Median household income is $147,700, 84% above the median place.
All 10 work and pay measures
| Measure | Empire | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income1 | $147,700 | 84% above | |
| Income per person1 | $51,680 | 29% above | |
| Unemployment1County figure | 3.6% | 26% below | |
| Average annual pay6County figure | $74,673 | 13% above | |
| Pay growth, 1 year6County figure | 2.6% | 30% below | |
| Jobs6County figure | 189,166 | 26% above | |
| Poverty rate1County figure | 5.8% | 46% below | |
| Mean commute1 | 30 min | 22% above | |
| Works from home1 | 20.1% | 62% above | |
| Commutes by transit1County figure | 1.2% | 46% above |
Who lives here
Homes with broadband is 98.6%, 7% above the median place.
All 9 people measures
| Measure | Empire | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population1 | 3,092 | 6646th largest | |
| Population change since 20207 | -2.3% | below (median 1.1%) | |
| Median age1 | 37.3 | 4% below | |
| Bachelor's or higher1 | 37.4% | 17% above | |
| High school or higher1 | 97.5% | 6% above | |
| Household size1 | 3.0 | 22% above | |
| Born abroad1County figure | 10.1% | 15% above | |
| No health insurance1County figure | 4.2% | 34% below | |
| Homes with broadband1 | 98.6% | 7% above |
Life in Empire
39 sites are on the National Register of Historic Places, one of them a National Historic Landmark.
Out the door, against the typical place
Mapped by volunteers in OpenStreetMap inside the city limits (Census boundaries), so coverage is fuller in some places than others. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Businesses per 10,000 residents (county figures)
Counts businesses with paid staff, so small owner-run shops are not included.
All 16 schools and local life measures
| Measure | Empire | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public schools12County figure | 165 | above (median 9) | |
| Public school students12County figure | 74,658 | above (median 4,897) | |
| Students per teacher12County figure | 15.9 | 3% above | |
| Restaurants and bars per 10k9County figure | 15.9 | 24% below | |
| Shops per 10k9County figure | 27.2 | 10% below | |
| Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k9County figure | 4.4 | 7% above | |
| Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k9County figure | 16.6 | 18% below | |
| Child care centers per 10k9County figure | 3.1 | 35% above | |
| Parks per 10k10 | 35.6 | 250% above | |
| Playgrounds per 10k10 | 32.3 | 244% above | |
| Grocery stores per 10k10 | 0.0 | below (median 2.1) | |
| Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k10 | 0.0 | below (median 11.2) | |
| Libraries per 10k10 | 0.0 | below (median 0.9) | |
| Named paths and bike trails10 | 17.2 | above (median 2.0) | |
| Transit stops per sq mi10 | 0.0 | below (median 0.2) | |
| National Register listings11County figure | 39 | 200% above |
Safety, weather and risk
January average low is 7°F, 73% below the median place.
No crime figure yet. Either the city police department did not report to the FBI for the latest year, or our monthly fetch has not reached Empire. Larger places are fetched first.
All 10 weather and risk measures
| Measure | Empire | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| July average high13County figure | 82°F | 5% below | |
| January average low13County figure | 7°F | 73% below | |
| Average temperature13County figure | 45°F | 17% below | |
| Annual precipitation13County figure | 33.0 in | 25% below | |
| Natural hazard risk14County figure | 89.5 | 3% below | |
| Tornado risk14County figure | 97.4 | 20% above | |
| Wildfire risk14County figure | 39.6 | 35% below | |
| Heat wave risk14County figure | 84.6 | 6% below | |
| Median air quality index15County figure | 35 | 19% below | |
| Good air days15County figure | 73.2% | 7% above |
How it is changing
Five-year survey estimates, one point per release.
No history available.
No history available.
Population estimate
Citytistics measures
Measures only Citytistics publishes, built from the figures on this page. Scores of 100 beat every place we track. Formulas
Places like Empire
The closest matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, and the places nearby.
| Place | Rent | Income | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savannah, TX | $2,000 | $142,868 | Compare |
| Linthicum, MD | $2,066 | $134,673 | Compare |
| Bonadelle Ranchos, CA | $1,941 | $132,723 | Compare |
| Andover, MN | $2,037 | $137,593 | Compare |
Nearby
- Farmington, MN4 mi
- Rosemount, MN5 mi
- Apple Valley, MN7 mi
- Lakeville, MN8 mi
- Eagan, MN10 mi
- Inver Grove Heights, MN10 mi
Compare Empire with
Common questions
Is Empire a good place to live?
It depends on what you need, so here is what the numbers say. 94% of homes are owner-occupied, more than in 96% of the 2,476 places under 10,000 people we track. After the median rent, and with prices for everything else adjusted to the US average, the median household has about $119,000 a year left, more than in 87% of places its size. See how it ranks with your own weights.
Is Empire expensive to live in?
The median rent takes 16.7% of the median household income, against 20.4% in the typical place we track. Housing is a lighter load here than usual. The median home is valued at $469,500.
What salary do you need to live in Empire?
To rent the median home without spending more than 30% of income on rent, a household needs about $82,080 a year. Work it out from your current city.
What places are similar to Empire?
On income, rent, home value, education and age, the closest matches are Savannah, TX, Linthicum, MD, Bonadelle Ranchos, CA and Andover, MN.
Sources and methods
The small numbers beside each measure point here. Every dataset is public; links go to the publisher.
- American Community Survey 5-year estimates · US Census Bureau · 2020 to 2024 estimatesTables B01002, B01003, B05002, B07003, B08013, B08301, B15003, B17001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25010, B25035, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25088, B25103, B28002, S2701
- Regional Price Parities · US Bureau of Economic Analysis · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
- Fair Market Rents · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2027
- Income Limits · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2026
- House Price Index · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025 annual averages
- Population Estimates · US Census Bureau · Vintage 2025
- SOI Tax Stats, county-to-county migration · Internal Revenue Service · Tax years 2022 to 2023Counts tax returns and the people on them; flows under 20 returns are suppressed.
- County Business Patterns · US Census Bureau · 2023 data
- OpenStreetMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) · Map data as of 2026-11
- National Register of Historic Places · National Park Service · Listings through 2026-05-22
- Common Core of Data · National Center for Education Statistics · 2024 release
- 1991-2020 climate normals · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · Series updated 2026-11-05Averages for 1991 to 2020 computed from NOAA's county climate series (nClimDiv).nClimDiv county series
- National Risk Index · Federal Emergency Management Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14NRI data and maps
- Air Quality System, annual AQI by county · US Environmental Protection Agency · 2025 dataAirData download files
Derived by Citytistics from the tables above: rent to income (B25064, B19013); property tax rate (B25103, B25077); home price to income (B25077, B19013).
What stands out compares Empire with places of a similar size, using only figures measured for Empire itself; county and metro figures never count. Survey figures are estimates with margins of error. Formulas and definitions: methodology. API: /api/v1/places/empire-minnesota
Citytistics. “Empire, Minnesota.” Data as of 2026-11-14. https://www.citytistics.com/city/empire-minnesota/
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.