Staples, Minnesota.
Typical home $216,177 (+8.2% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$667 (+142%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $16,453 +8%
- $199,723$216,177 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $51,960 +32%
- $164,217$216,177 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.
- Staples$1,135
- 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 Staples, MN rose 8.2% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Staples, Todd County, Minnesota
Staples is a city of 2,989 people in Todd County. Half its households earn more than $52,071 a year and half less, against $67,662 across Todd County; 16% of its people live below the poverty line. 63% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 37% are rented. Unemployment in Todd County was 5.4% in August 2026, and the county had 0.5% more 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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Staples is a small city in Todd County, with a population that keeps it close-knit. Household incomes here run below the county's, and a larger share of people live below the poverty line than you might expect in a place this size. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and winters are cold and snowy, with summers that turn pleasantly warm.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with shops, manufacturing and government also employing a good number. Lakewood Health System, the Staples-Motley School District and Central Lakes College's Staples campus are among the largest workplaces in town. Few adults hold a four-year degree, and the typical commute is a short one.
Things to do. Dower Lake and Hayden Creek are in or beside town, and Lovejoy Lake and the Leaf River are a short drive away. For a longer outing, Brainerd International Raceway is a longer drive away, and it is a race track.
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- 1,002households
- 22%of adults have a degree
- 16%below the poverty line
- 22 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Todd County had 7,119 jobs in 2025, 0.5% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 18° and lows near -2°; warmest in July, with highs near 78° and lows near 58°. About 51 inches of snow and 29 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Wadena South weather station, 16 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Staples
- Lakewood Health SystemCritical access hospital479FTE
- Staples-motley School DistrictSchool district156FTE
- Seasons Adult Foster CareGroup homes for the disabled without nursing care98
- MnSCU Central Lakes College - Staples CampusColleges, community45
- 3M Company35
- Stern Rubber Company - StaplesRubber goods, mechanical, manufacturing34
- First International Bank & TrustBanking20
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 6 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 790 people in all. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and school districts 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
- Strong windRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- WildfireRelatively moderate
- HailRelatively moderate
- Cold wavesRelatively 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 Staples’ 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 Todd County.
Staples home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Staples$216,177
- Minnesota$348,778
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Staples 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.
- Staples25.91%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Staples23
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Staples7
Zip codes with a Staples address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Staples — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.