Rice, Minnesota.
Typical home $354,082 (+2.0% in a year). St. Cloud, MN metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$999 (+116%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $7,065 +2%
- $347,017$354,082 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $66,030 +23%
- $288,052$354,082 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.
- Rice$1,858
- Minnesota$1,831
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 17 years.
Typical home values in Rice, MN rose 2.0% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Rice, Benton County, Minnesota
Rice is a city of 1,975 people in Benton County. Half its households earn more than $107,692 a year and half less, against $74,410 across Benton County; 3% of its people live below the poverty line. 89% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 11% are rented. Unemployment in Benton County was 5.2% in August 2026, and the county had 1.7% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Rice is a small city in Benton County, Minnesota, with a younger population than many towns its size. Households here have incomes well above the county's, and very few people live below the poverty line. Almost everyone owns the home they live in, which is far more than in most places, and fewer adults hold a four-year degree than you might expect given the incomes. Winters are colder than in most of the country, with January the coldest month and temperatures often well below freezing, while July is the warmest month and pleasantly warm. Rain and melted snow add up to a moderate amount over the year.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in manufacturing and in government. Some of the largest workplaces are in Rice itself, including Foodservice Minnesota, Virnig Manufacturing Rice and Burski Excavating. Across Benton County there are somewhat fewer jobs than a year earlier and unemployment has edged up, though a good share of residents work from home and the usual commute is moderate.
Things to do. For time outdoors, Little Rock Lake, a reservoir, and the Two River and the Watab River are all a short drive away. Charles A. Lindbergh State Park, a protected area, is a longer drive away and suits a day trip. The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, also a longer drive away, is a museum for those who like a quieter outing.
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- 746households
- 29%of adults have a degree
- 3%below the poverty line
- 24 mintypical commute
- 12%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Benton County had 17,097 jobs in 2025, 1.7% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 20° and lows near 0°; warmest in July, with highs near 80° and lows near 58°. About 30 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Rice weather station, 2 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Rice
- Foodservice Minnesota365
- Virnig Manufacturing RiceConstruction machinery manufacturing177
- Burski ExcavatingExcavating, earthmoving, or land clearing contractors34
- Linde Gas & Equipment - RiceIndustrial gases merchant wholesalers23
- Systematic TechnologiesLow voltage electrical work20
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 5 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 619 people in all. 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
- Strong windRelatively moderate
- HailRelatively moderate
- TornadoesRelatively moderate
- Cold wavesRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Rice’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. 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 Benton County and the St. Cloud, MN metro.
Rice home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Rice$354,082
- 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 3 Rice 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.
- Rice39.92%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Rice23
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Rice7
Zip codes with a Rice address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Rice — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.