By population Rochester, MN is 206th of 387 US metropolitan areas, with 228,522 residents. Here is what the public data says about the households, the business base and what that means for advertising locally.
The median home value of $306,500 is 8 percent below the national figure. The typical household income is $91,882, 14 percent above the national figure. For a business that sells to homeowners, that combination sets the ceiling on what a job is worth.
Ownership: 74.3% of households own their home, 9 points above the US share. The median age is 38.9, about the same as the national median, so this is a older market than the country as a whole. Unemployment in the civilian labor force is 3.3%, 2 points below the US share. 43% of adults finished a four-year degree or more (7 points above the US share).
Compared with Minnesota: income is 3 percent higher than the Minnesota figure, home values are 7 percent lower than the Minnesota figure, and business density is 13 percent thinner than the Minnesota figure.
By the Census Bureau's count Rochester, MN supports 5,314 employer establishments. That works out to 23.3 businesses per 1,000 residents, 7 percent below the national figure (the national rate is 25 per 1,000). Contractors in the home-services trades total 300, or 5.6% of the base, about the same as the US share.
| Trade | Establishments | Per 100,000 residents | vs US mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 54 | 23.6 | 1.99× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 11 | 4.8 | 1.87× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 26 | 11.4 | 1.75× |
| Roofing contractors | 22 | 9.6 | 1.36× |
| Automobile dealers | 40 | 17.5 | 1.34× |
| General automotive repair | 67 | 29.3 | 1.24× |
| Child day care services | 65 | 28.4 | 1.24× |
| Electrical contractors | 56 | 24.5 | 1.06× |
| Landscaping services | 77 | 33.7 | 1.03× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 381 | 166.7 | 0.97× |
| Personal care services (all) | 96 | 42 | 0.94× |
| Dentists | 80 | 35 | 0.93× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 81 | 35.4 | 0.93× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 65 | 28.4 | 0.92× |
| Beauty salons | 48 | 21 | 0.90× |
| General freight trucking | 66 | 28.9 | 0.89× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 40 | 17.5 | 0.63× |
| Legal services | 67 | 29.3 | 0.58× |
| Self-storage facilities | 5 | 2.2 | 0.42× |
| Physicians' offices | 37 | 16.2 | 0.27× |
Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.
Crowded categories in Rochester, MN: specialty trade contractors, road and paving contractors, concrete contractors and roofing contractors. The sharpest example is specialty trade contractors: 54 establishments, 2 times the share seen nationally. Where the base is lighter: physicians' offices, self-storage operators, legal services and grocery stores. Physicians' offices are the clearest gap with 37 establishments, about 27% of the share they hold across the US. Plumbing and HVAC contractors, electrical contractors and landscaping services sit near their national proportions.
Per resident the densest are restaurants at 166.7 per 100,000 people, then personal care services and real estate lessors. The most numerous of the listed trades: restaurants with 381 establishments, then personal care services (96) and real estate lessors (81). Sector view: automotive businesses index at 1.3 times the national share, medical and dental practices at about half of.
With specialty trade contractors, road and paving contractors and concrete contractors over-indexed, the cost of a click rises and so does the value of everything that happens after it: a page that loads fast, a number that is answered, a review profile that settles the comparison. For physicians' offices, self-storage operators and legal services the picture is the opposite. Fewer competing profiles means a complete listing, a fast site and a modest search budget can take a disproportionate share of the searches that exist. Income 14 percent above the national figure means larger average jobs; the pitch should match, with premium options shown plainly. A median age about the same as the national median means a larger share of customers who still start with a Google search and read reviews before calling, so the search-plus-reviews stack earns its keep. High homeownership (74.3%) means a large pool of people who pay for their own repairs, replacements and yard work, which favors the home-services trades in this market.
What YelloPost runs for businesses in a market shaped like Rochester, MN.
A steady flow of new reviews and a reply on every one of them.
Paid search that shows up when someone in Rochester, MN is ready to call, not just browsing.
Management of the Google listing that decides the map pack.
Pages that answer the specific services-plus-place searches people in Rochester, MN use, built to be found.
A website that loads fast, states the offer and gets the visitor to the phone.
Email automation for the customer list.
Rochester, MN has 228,522 residents (US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimate), ranking 206th of 387 metropolitan areas.
The median household income in Rochester, MN is $91,882 (ACS 2024 5-year), above the US median of $80,734.
The Census Bureau counts 5,314 employer establishments in Rochester, MN (County Business Patterns 2023), or 23.3 businesses per 1,000 residents.
The median home value in Rochester, MN is $306,500, and 74.3% of homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2024 5-year).
Measured against the US business mix (County Business Patterns 2023), specialty trade contractors, road and paving contractors and concrete contractors have more establishments per resident than the US average; physicians' offices, self-storage operators and legal services have fewer in Rochester, MN.
A quick review of where you show up today, then a plan for where you should.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023. Updated 2026-09-29.