Pelican Rapids, Minnesota.
Typical home $382,997 (+5.9% in a year). Fergus Falls, MN metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,142 (+131%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $21,455 +6%
- $361,541$382,997 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $89,002 +30%
- $293,994$382,997 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.
- Pelican Rapids$2,010
- Minnesota$1,831
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 13 years.
Typical home values in Pelican Rapids, MN rose 5.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Pelican Rapids, Otter Tail County, Minnesota
Pelican Rapids is a city of 2,577 people in Otter Tail County. Half its households earn more than $63,917 a year and half less, against $72,255 across Otter Tail County; 17% of its people live below the poverty line. 64% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 36% are rented. Unemployment in Otter Tail County was 4.8% in August 2026, and the county had 1.4% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in manufacturing, then professional services.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Pelican Rapids is a small city in Otter Tail County, with a younger population than many rural Minnesota towns. Incomes run below the county's, and more residents live below the poverty line than you might expect, though most homes are lived in by their owners. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month and July the warmest, and the year brings a fair amount of rain and melted snow.
Work. Residents work mainly in manufacturing, shops, professional and business services, and in schools, hospitals and social care. Among the largest workplaces in town are West Central Turkeys, Pelican Valley Senior Living and Pelican Rapids Public Schools. Jobs across the county have slipped over the past year, and unemployment is higher than it was a year earlier.
Things to do. Pelican Lake is a short drive away, as is Maplewood State Park, a protected area with a good deal of open country to explore. Lake Lizzie is also close by, and Detroit Lake, a longer drive away, is another option for time on the water.
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- 931households
- 19%of adults have a degree
- 17%below the poverty line
- 22 mintypical commute
- 9%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Otter Tail County had 22,581 jobs in 2025, 1.4% 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, 11 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Pelican Rapids
- West Central TurkeysTurkeys, processing, fresh, frozen, canned, or cooked628
- Pelican Valley Senior LivingSkilled nursing facilities141
- Pelican Rapids Public SchoolsSchool district134FTE
- Lake Region Electric CooperativeDistribution of electric power70
- Fortrex - 0587 West Central TurkeysJanitorial services44
- City of Pelican RapidsPublic property management services, government30
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 5 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 913 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
- Cold wavesVery high
- Strong windRelatively high
- HailRelatively moderate
- TornadoesRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Pelican Rapids’ census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. 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 Otter Tail County and the Fergus Falls, MN metro.
Pelican Rapids home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Pelican Rapids$382,997
- 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 4 Pelican Rapids 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.
- Pelican Rapids22.59%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Pelican Rapids56
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Pelican Rapids8
Zip codes with a Pelican Rapids address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Pelican Rapids — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.