What is the population of Brainerd city?

Brainerd city has 14,474 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #76 of 914 in Minnesota.

What is the median household income in Brainerd city?

Median household income in Brainerd city is $53,705 a year, 31.6% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Brainerd city?

Median gross rent is $848 a month and the median home value is $178,600, so rent absorbs about 18.9% of median household income.

Is Brainerd city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 3.3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Brainerd city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 18.9% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

Minnesota · Census place 07300

Brainerd, MN population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Brainerd, Minnesota (Brainerd, MN — Census place “Brainerd city”) is 14,474 residents, ranking #76 of 914 places in Minnesota. Median household income is $53,705, the median home is worth $178,600 and median gross rent runs $848 a month. Looking for the Brainerd Minnesota ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Brainerd, MN: 56401.

Population: 14,474Brainerd city residents
Median household income: $53,705Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $178,600Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $848Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 36.1 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 57%Owner-occupied households

Brainerd ZIP codes (Minnesota)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Brainerd.

The Brainerd MN ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

56401

What the numbers mean in Brainerd city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Brainerd city median would spend about 18.9% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 3.3× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 16.7% of residents and 57% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Brainerd city, MN in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Brainerd city is a mid-size town in Minnesota, with 14,474 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #76 of 914 ranked by population — larger than 91% of them. The median age here is 36.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Brainerd city earn a median of $53,705 a year, 31.6% below the national figure of $78,538 and 29% below the $75,469 median for the 361 Minnesota cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 16.7% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Brainerd city is valued at $178,600, 41.1% below the national figure and 26% below the $240,400 peer median, while median gross rent runs $848 a month, 39.7% below the national figure, or roughly $10,176 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 18.9% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 57% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Brainerd city?: Brainerd city has 14,474 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #76 of 914 in Minnesota.
What is the median household income in Brainerd city?: Median household income in Brainerd city is $53,705 a year, 31.6% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Brainerd city?: Median gross rent is $848 a month and the median home value is $178,600, so rent absorbs about 18.9% of median household income.
Is Brainerd city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 3.3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Brainerd city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 18.9% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Brainerd city data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.