Sandstone vs Willow River

A side-by-side comparison of Sandstone and Willow River: population, income, housing, and more.

Sandstone and Willow River are places in Minnesota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Sandstone has the higher population (2,538 vs 351 in Willow River). Willow River has the higher median household income ($52,188 vs $50,288 in Sandstone). Willow River has the higher median home value ($197,700 vs $137,500 in Sandstone).

Population, income & housing

	Sandstone	Willow River
Population	2,538	351
Median age	39.6 yrs	37.3 yrs
Median household income	$50,288	$52,188
Median home value	$137,500	$197,700
Median gross rent	$1,011	$758
Housing units	704	177
Homeownership rate	54.2%	65.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.2%	9.2%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	9.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Sandstone	Willow River
Population	2,670 → 2,538 (-4.9%)	457 → 351 (-23.2%)
Median household income	$39,750 → $50,288 (+26.5%)	$40,250 → $52,188 (+29.7%)
Median home value	$77,500 → $137,500 (+77.4%)	$123,500 → $197,700 (+60.1%)
Median gross rent	$824 → $1,011 (+22.7%)	$740 → $758 (+2.4%)

Sandstone

Population

2,6702,538

Median household income

$39,750$50,288

Median home value

$77,500$137,500

Median gross rent

$824$1,011

Willow River

Population

457351

Median household income

$40,250$52,188

Median home value

$123,500$197,700

Median gross rent

$740$758

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Sandstone	Willow River
Under 5	4.8%	2.8%
5 to 17	8.2%	14.8%
18 to 24	6.3%	11.4%
25 to 34	18.8%	19.7%
35 to 44	23.4%	12.3%
45 to 54	15.6%	11.1%
55 to 64	12.1%	5.7%
65 to 74	4.0%	14.5%
75 and over	6.9%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Sandstone	Willow River
White (non-Hispanic)	69.1%	98.3%
Black or African American	9.2%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	4.6%	0.0%
Asian	1.8%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.9%	1.7%
Hispanic or Latino	12.0%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Sandstone	Willow River
No high school diploma	17.2%	2.8%
High school graduate	46.7%	49.0%
Some college or associate's	23.9%	39.0%
Bachelor's degree	10.1%	8.8%
Graduate or professional degree	2.1%	0.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Sandstone	Willow River
Drove alone	75.8%	69.6%
Carpooled	11.9%	19.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	5.9%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.4%	8.9%
Other means	0.0%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Sandstone	Willow River
1-unit, detached	72.9%	79.7%
1-unit, attached	0.4%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	3.1%	13.6%
5 to 19 units	6.1%	0.0%
20 or more units	15.3%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	2.1%	6.8%

Poverty & households

	Sandstone	Willow River
Poverty rate	26.6%	8.3%
Average household size	2.25	2.22
Mean commute (minutes)	26	41
Median year structure built	1966	1992