Who lives in Hermantown, Minnesota
Part of the Hermantown neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
Hermantown reads as a family and move-up market. The most visible household types are families with school-age children, who choose the city for ISD 700 and the level of youth sports infrastructure, and move-up buyers coming out of a first house in Duluth or Proctor who want newer construction and an attached garage. Ownership rates are high and rental stock is limited, mostly newer townhomes and twin homes rather than converted older houses.
There is also a meaningful and growing share of empty nesters and retirees, drawn by the same things: single-level ramblers, attached garages, level driveways, and proximity to the medical offices on Miller Hill. In a metro where most of the housing stock is a two-story built before 1940 with a detached garage at the bottom of a hill, a Hermantown rambler is a very specific and very desirable product for someone in their sixties.
Commute patterns run toward downtown Duluth, the two hospital systems, the Miller Hill corridor, the airport, and the university cluster, with a substantial remote-work share since 2020. Hermantown's population grew about 6.4% between 2019 and 2024 while most of the region was flat (US Census Bureau, accessed 2026-08-13), which tells you the direction of household movement without needing to characterize anyone. Tenure runs 75.0% owner-occupied and 25.0% renter, and the median gross rent is $1,375, the highest figure on any page in this guide (ACS 5-year 2023, Hermantown city, accessed 2026-08-13). Rental supply is thin and what exists is comparatively new, which is why the rent is high while the renter share stays modest. Detached and attached single-family houses are 81.5% of the housing stock and duplexes are under 1%, so a household that wants to rent in Hermantown while it shops is competing for a small pool, and most people arriving here buy directly.
Who lives here next door
Directly east over the Duluth line, older above-the-hill housing at a lower price with the same Miller Hill access.
ProctorTen minutes south, a smaller school district and much lower prices in an older railroad town.
KenwoodSoutheast toward UMD, established 1950s and 1960s housing on the Duluth side with ISD 709 schools.
PiedmontDown the hill toward Lincoln Park, older stock with hillside views and the Piedmont trail network.