Counties / Minnesota / Le Sueur County

Le Sueur County, MN

FIPS 27079 · population 29,113 · part of Minneapolis, MN

$363k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$363k
▲ 3.0% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,192
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
3.9%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,078
market rent is 1.11x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+44.3%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.0%FHFA HPI2025+3.9%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$317k
Surveyed gross rent$942
Rent burden 30%+44.9%
Median year built1974
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
10.8%vacant
13,054estimated housing units
Occupied tenure19.0% renter
owner 81.0%renter 19.0%
Structure mix86.7% single-family
Single-family 86.7%20+ units 3.3%Mobile home 1.9%Other 8.1%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs8,453▼ 2.5% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments780annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,097▲ 4.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing38.8% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.5%WEEKLY WAGE+4.2%Manufacturing38.8%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Le Sueur’s decision tension is a 3.94% published pre-cost gross yield against an effective property-tax rate of 1.06% and unmeasured property costs. Operators who can verify site-level expenses and rent durability should investigate; buyers whose case requires appreciation or low operating costs should be cautious. County-level evidence cannot establish a property’s cash flow.

02Housing economics

At Zillow’s county 2026-06 observation, the median home value rose 2.97%. FHFA’s annual 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 3.87%; it is an appreciation index, not a home value. These distinct vintages and methods point in the same direction but cannot be averaged into one growth rate. Published market rent sits 10.6% above HUD’s two-bedroom FMR, but FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent; the reported yield uses market rent, not FMR.

03Demand & competition

QCEW annual covered employment at county workplaces fell 2.47%; it is neither resident employment nor unemployment. Manufacturing was the largest disclosed private supersector, representing 38.84% of private covered employment, a concentration to test rather than a description of the whole economy. Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market evidence shows expanded active listings, shorter marketing time and listings with price reductions; these are visible supply and seller-concession signals, not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. Tax-return migration was net -68 households, although inbound movers’ average AGI exceeded outbound movers’ by $8,972. Non-occupant investor purchase mortgages accounted for 23 of 344 purchases, or 6.69%; this shows participation, not bidding intensity.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.13% of building value per year; it should not be converted into a property dollar loss. The record lacks property-level flood history, insurance quotes, vacancy, repair costs, financing terms and closed-sale comparables. It therefore cannot establish net cash flow, insurability, leverage costs or a defensible purchase and exit basis; those items require property-specific review alongside lease comparables, tax bills and flood maps.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Le Sueur County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Mankato city*45.5KNew Prague city*8.2KLe Sueur city*4.2KMontgomery city3.4KLe Center city2.5KWaterville city1.9KElysian city*676Cleveland city563
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

11 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Mankato cityIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    45,473
  2. 02
    New Prague cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    8,237
  3. 03
    Le Sueur cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    4,215
  4. 04
    Montgomery cityIncorporated place
    3,434
  5. 05
    Le Center cityIncorporated place
    2,513
  6. 06
    Waterville cityIncorporated place
    1,947
  7. 07
    Elysian cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    676
  8. 08
    Cleveland cityIncorporated place
    563
  9. 09
    Kasota cityIncorporated place
    554
  10. 10
    Heidelberg cityIncorporated place
    235
  11. 11
    Kilkenny cityIncorporated place
    125

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.126% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.06%

$3,366 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-68

839 in · 907 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$8,972

$77,095 arriving · $68,123 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors6.7%

23 of 344 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings132▲ 87.9% year over year
Median days on market37▼ 29.1% year over year
Listings price-reduced23.4%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 14.7% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Same metro

The other counties in Minneapolis, MN

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Le Sueur County29,113$363k$1,1923.9%inland flooding
Hennepin County1,269,496$396k$1,7665.3%inland flooding
Ramsey County542,945$345k$1,5255.3%inland flooding
Dakota County445,771$403k$1,6875.0%inland flooding
Anoka County370,349$380k$1,7325.5%inland flooding
Washington County276,238$451k$2,0605.5%inland flooding
Scott County154,557$450k$1,8504.9%inland flooding
Wright County148,269$399k$1,8065.4%inland flooding
Carver County110,041$496k$2,0024.8%inland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-specific flood exposure, insurance costs and tax bills may differ materially from county-level measures.
  2. Countywide market rent cannot establish property-level vacancy, repair costs or net cash flow.
  3. MLS listing conditions may not translate into closed-sale liquidity, achievable acquisition pricing or exit value.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can HUD Fair Market Rent be used as the county’s market asking rent?

No. The record identifies HUD FMR as a payment standard; published market rent is the asking-rent measure used for gross yield.

What does the QCEW employment measure represent?

It represents annual average covered jobs located at workplaces in the county, not resident employment or unemployment.

Do the Realtor.com measures report closed-sale prices?

No. They are MLS listing-market measures covering asking prices, visible active supply, marketing time and seller price reductions.