Fergus Falls vs Perham

A side-by-side comparison of Fergus Falls and Perham: population, income, housing, and more.

Fergus Falls and Perham are places in Minnesota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Fergus Falls has the higher population (14,138 vs 3,577 in Perham). Fergus Falls has the higher median household income ($50,865 vs $47,088 in Perham). Perham has the higher median home value ($186,000 vs $173,300 in Fergus Falls).

Population, income & housing

	Fergus Falls	Perham
Population	14,138	3,577
Median age	42.0 yrs	35.0 yrs
Median household income	$50,865	$47,088
Median home value	$173,300	$186,000
Median gross rent	$839	$813
Housing units	6,989	1,584
Homeownership rate	63.5%	54.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.8%	28.7%
Unemployment rate	7.4%	15.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fergus Falls	Perham
Population	13,707 → 14,138 (+3.1%)	3,432 → 3,577 (+4.2%)
Median household income	$43,528 → $50,865 (+16.9%)	$46,128 → $47,088 (+2.1%)
Median home value	$132,300 → $173,300 (+31.0%)	$145,000 → $186,000 (+28.3%)
Median gross rent	$653 → $839 (+28.5%)	$705 → $813 (+15.3%)

Fergus Falls

Population

13,70714,138

Median household income

$43,528$50,865

Median home value

$132,300$173,300

Median gross rent

$653$839

Perham

Population

3,4323,577

Median household income

$46,128$47,088

Median home value

$145,000$186,000

Median gross rent

$705$813

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fergus Falls	Perham
Under 5	5.8%	6.7%
5 to 17	15.5%	19.7%
18 to 24	8.4%	10.3%
25 to 34	10.9%	13.2%
35 to 44	12.9%	11.2%
45 to 54	8.6%	7.0%
55 to 64	14.1%	7.7%
65 to 74	10.7%	9.8%
75 and over	13.1%	14.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fergus Falls	Perham
White (non-Hispanic)	90.7%	80.8%
Black or African American	1.2%	2.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	1.9%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.7%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.9%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	1.2%	14.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fergus Falls	Perham
No high school diploma	4.5%	13.4%
High school graduate	26.1%	31.9%
Some college or associate's	41.5%	26.0%
Bachelor's degree	18.5%	23.8%
Graduate or professional degree	9.4%	4.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fergus Falls	Perham
Drove alone	69.7%	74.8%
Carpooled	10.5%	9.0%
Public transit	2.2%	0.7%
Walked	4.6%	8.4%
Bicycle	1.9%	0.0%
Worked from home	10.2%	6.8%
Other means	1.1%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fergus Falls	Perham
1-unit, detached	61.4%	57.1%
1-unit, attached	6.4%	9.9%
2 to 4 units	6.1%	7.1%
5 to 19 units	9.1%	14.3%
20 or more units	14.4%	7.6%
Mobile home & other	2.6%	4.0%

Poverty & households

	Fergus Falls	Perham
Poverty rate	10.7%	19.5%
Average household size	2.09	2.42
Mean commute (minutes)	13	12
Median year structure built	1973	1977