Barnesville, Minnesota.
Typical home $306,468 (+3.0% in a year). Fargo, ND-MN metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$767 (+91%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $8,817 +3%
- $297,651$306,468 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $47,394 +18%
- $259,074$306,468 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Barnesville$1,609
- Minnesota$1,831
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 21 years.
Typical home values in Barnesville, MN rose 3.0% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Barnesville, Clay County, Minnesota
Barnesville is a city of 2,759 people in Clay County. Half its households earn more than $97,917 a year and half less, against $81,172 across Clay County; 2% of its people live below the poverty line. 83% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 17% are rented. Unemployment in Clay County was 4.3% in August 2026, and the county had 0.7% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then construction.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Barnesville is a small Minnesota city in Clay County, and it is a young town for its size, with a median age well below what many older homeowners might expect. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and household incomes run above the county's, with very few people living below the poverty line. Winters are long and cold, with January the coldest month and plenty of snow, while July brings warm summer days.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, followed by the building trades, banks, insurance and property, and shops. The largest workplaces in town are the Barnesville Public School District, the City of Barnesville and Valley Care and Rehab, a skilled nursing facility. Across Clay County, there were slightly fewer jobs last year than the year before, and unemployment is a little higher than a year ago. The typical commute is fairly long, and only a small share of people work from home.
Things to do. For time outdoors, Buffalo River State Park is a protected area and Pelican Lake is a lake, both a longer drive away. For a day out, the Red River Zoo is a longer drive away, as is the Rourke Art Museum. The Otter Tail River is another option for anyone who likes to be near water.
Report a mistake
- 1,005households
- 31%of adults have a degree
- 2%below the poverty line
- 26 mintypical commute
- 7%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Clay County had 19,568 jobs in 2025, 0.7% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 18° and lows near -1°; warmest in July, with highs near 80° and lows near 60°. About 50 inches of snow and 25 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Rothsay weather station, 13 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Barnesville
- Barnesville Public School DistSchool district105FTE
- City of BarnesvilleGeneral public administration104
- Valley Care and RehabSkilled nursing facilities60
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 2 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 164 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Winter weatherVery high
- Inland floodingVery high
- Cold wavesVery high
- Strong windVery high
- HailRelatively high
- TornadoesRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Barnesville’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Clay County and the Fargo, ND-MN metro.
Barnesville home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Barnesville$306,468
- Minnesota$348,778
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 7 Barnesville listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Barnesville17
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Barnesville5
Zip codes with a Barnesville address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Barnesville — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.