Rochester is a city in
Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
. It is located along rolling bluffs on the
Zumbro River's south fork in
Southeast Minnesota. At the
2020 census, the city had a population of 121,395, making it Minnesota's
third-most populous city.
The
Rochester metropolitan area, which also includes the nearby rural agricultural areas, had a population of 226,329 in 2020.
The city is the home and birthplace of
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...
.
History
Several indigenous peoples such as
Dakota,
Ojibway
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
, and
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hocąk, Hoocągra, or Winnebago are a Siouan languages, Siouan-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois ...
inhabited the Rochester area. The area developed as a
stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
stop between
Saint Paul
Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, and
Dubuque
Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...
,
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
near the Zumbro River. The community was founded by George Head and his wife Henrietta who built a log cabin named Head's Tavern in 1854 and named the city after his hometown of
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
. When the
Winona and St Peter Railroad initiated service in October 1864, it brought new residents and business opportunities and spurred growth. In 1863,
William W. Mayo arrived as the examining surgeon for
Union draftees in the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
St. Marys Hospital

On August 21, 1883, the
Great Tornado demolished much of Rochester, leaving 37 dead and approximately 200 injured. As there was no medical facility in the immediate area at the time, Mayo and his
two sons worked together to care for the wounded. Donations of US$60,000 (US$1,932,562 in 2022) were collected and the
Sisters of St. Francis, assisted by Mayo, opened a new facility named
St. Marys Hospital in 1889.
Geography

Rochester lies alongside the South Fork of the Zumbro River which is long and is ringed by gentle hills and largely surrounded by farmland within a
deciduous forest
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...
biome
A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...
. The Zumbro Watershed flows through of agricultural and urban lands. Located in southeast Minnesota, the City of Rochester lies at the western edge of the
Driftless Area
The Driftless Area, also known as Bluff Country and the Paleozoic Plateau, is a topographic and cultural region in the Midwestern United States that comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme ...
, a region that was never glaciated and contains deeply-carved river valleys. The rugged terrain is due both to the lack of glacial deposits, or drift, and to the incision of the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries into bedrock. According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which of it is land and is water.
The city is located southeast of
Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Minnesota River, Minnesota, and St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota), ...
.
[Faruque, p. 1.]
Rochester is in
Olmsted County, one of only four counties in Minnesota without a natural lake.
Artificial lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
s exist in the area, including
Silver Lake, a dammed portion of the South Fork Zumbro River just below the convergence with Silver Creek near the city center. Silver Lake was once used as a
cooling pond
A cooling pond is a man-made body of water primarily formed for the purpose of cooling heated water or to store and supply cooling water to a nearby power plant or industrial facility such as a petroleum refinery, pulp and paper mill, chemica ...
when the coal-burning
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
was operated by Rochester Public Utilities at the lake. When operational, the RPU coal plant's heated water output prevented the lake from generally freezing over during the winter months, attracting large numbers of
migrating giant Canada geese. Large murders of
crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...
s are known to flock to Rochester during winter, including the Rochester cemetery downtown.
Rochester has an extensive parks system, the largest of which are Silver Lake and Soldiers Field in the central part of the city. A major flood in 1978 led the city to embark on an expensive and successful flood-control project that involved altering many nearby rivers and streams. The Zumbro River flowing through the center of the city is presently being readdressed for increased development and use as part of city planning in conjunction with funding from the Destination Medical Center project.
Climate
With a slightly higher altitude and without the same
Urban heat island
Urban areas usually experience the urban heat island (UHI) effect; that is, they are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds ar ...
effect as the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...
, the climate is
warm-summer humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Dfb''), which is cooler than the Twin Cities, despite being further south, with warm summers and cold winters. The city features four distinct seasons. Rochester sees on average of rainfall and of snowfall per year. Significant snow accumulation is common during the winter months. Spring and fall are transitional seasons, with a general warming trend during the spring and a general cooling trend during the fall. However, it is not uncommon to see some snowfall during the early month of spring and the later month of fall.
Rochester is the second windiest city in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, with wind speeds averaging . January to April are the windiest months on average, according to The Weather Channel. Rochester has been hit by two
F4 tornadoes since 1950 (the first on May 10, 1953, and the other on September 16, 1962). The city has also been hit by two tornadoes in the past decade. On June 17, 2010, a tornado hit the city's northwest side, damaging or destroying several homes and businesses around the Lincolnshire neighborhood. Another tornado struck the city on June 4, 2019, causing damage to parts of Southwest Rochester.
;Notes:
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
census of 2020,
the population was 121,395. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 53,210 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 73.2%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 8.9%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 7.9%
Asian, 0.4%
Native American, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 2.9% from
other races, and 6.6% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 6.6%
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race.
In terms of ancestry, the 2005–2007 American Community Survey found
German American
German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry.
According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...
s to be the largest single ethnic group in Rochester, making up 35.5% of the city's population.
Norwegian American
Norwegian Americans () are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 milli ...
s made up 15.9%, while
Irish American
Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry.
Irish immigration to the United States
From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
s contributed to 11.6% of the city's populace.
English American
English Americans (also known as Anglo-Americans) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2020 United States census, English Americans were the largest group in the United States with 46.6 million America ...
s made up 8.2% of the population and
Swedish American
Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...
s were 5.0% of the city's population. In the mid-1980s Rochester had fewer than 40 Hmong persons.
[ The ]1990 United States census
The 1990 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9.8 percent over the 226,545,805 persons enumerated during the 1980 census.
Approximatel ...
counted 200 Hmong persons in Rochester. This increased to 300 by 1998. Cathleen Jo Faruque, author of "Migration of Hmong to Rochester, Minnesota: Life in the Midwest," wrote in 2003 that there was "every indication that this trend will continue".[Faruque, p. 2.]
There were 43,025 households, of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.6% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.04.
The median age in the city was 35 years. 24.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.4% were from 25 to 44; 24.8% were from 45 to 64; and 12.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.
As of the 2011–2015 American Community Survey, the median household income was $68,023.
Economy
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...
forms the core of Rochester's economy. As of 2016, it employs 51,000 people and draws more than 2 million visitors annually. The clinic's many facilities, along with hotels, restaurants and retail stores, comprise nearly all of the city's downtown. Excluding the state government, Mayo Clinic is the largest employer in Minnesota. Other care providers, including the Rochester Federal Medical Center, are significant employers.
The Rochester Technology Campus is a sprawling 2.56 million sq. ft. leasable facility with uses ranging from office space, manufacturing, warehousing, data centers, and laboratories. It has been home to several technology companies. This is where IBM designed and produced its midrange computer
Midrange computers, or midrange systems, were a class of computer systems that fell in between mainframe computers and microcomputers.
This class of machine emerged in the 1960s, with models from Digital Equipment Corporation ( PDP lines), Data ...
series. It was also the home of the first Blue Gene
Blue Gene was an IBM project aimed at designing supercomputers that can reach operating speeds in the petaFLOPS (PFLOPS) range, with relatively low power consumption.
The project created three generations of supercomputers, Blue Gene/L, Blue ...
prototype and contributed the servers for Roadrunner.
The economy of Rochester is also influenced by the agricultural nature of the region. There are multiple dairy producers that are active in the area. In addition, Kerry Flavours and Ingredients, a subsidiary of the global Irish company called Kerry Group
Kerry Group plc is a public food company headquartered in Ireland. It is quoted on the Dublin ISEQ and London stock exchanges.
Given the company's origins in the co-operative movement, farmer-suppliers of the company retain a significant i ...
, maintains a production plant in Rochester that specializes in fermented ingredients, found in breads, meats and other processed foods.
Destination Medical Center
In 2013, Governor Mark Dayton signed a bill known as Destination Medical Center (DMC). It intends to increase Minnesota's tax base, and promote business and economic growth throughout the state. Because of this legislation, The Mayo Clinic will invest in $3.5 billion to upgrade patient rooms, add additional workspace, and build research and administrative buildings.
The main developments of this plan will be in the DMC sub-districts. The ''Downtown Waterfront'' district will cover The Government Center, The Civic Center, and most areas near the Zumbro River. The ''Central Station'' district includes Central Park and most of Civic Center Drive, aimed to become a transportation hub of the city. ''St. Marys Place'' will cover St. Marys hospital and St. Marys Park, as well as most of 2nd Street. The ''Heart of the City'' will feature the Mayo Clinic campus and major residential, commercial, and retail companies. The ''Discovery Square'' area will include scientific and technology research facilities. Lastly, The ''UMR and Recreation'' district will feature Soldiers Field and the University of Minnesota Rochester campus.
Arts and culture
A number of Rochester buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
, including the historic Chateau Theatre, which the city purchased in 2015 for preservation, and Avalon Music, formerly a hotel important in the local civil rights movement. In 2019, after renovations and a public RFP, the Chateau Theatre has re-opened as an exhibition venue.
Founded in 1946, the Rochester Art Center is located downtown, just south of the Mayo Civic Center. In 2017, the Rochester Art Center's financial troubles brought a renewed focus on the need for both formal and informal arts spaces in the city.
In the summer from June to the end of August, every Thursday the city puts on Thursdays Downtown where local restaurants and artists can set up booths all along First Avenue downtown Rochester. There are two stages where bands perform and provide entertainment. There are also a number of street musicians sitting on walls or standing on the sidewalks.
The oldest cultural arts institution in the community, Rochester Symphony Orchestra & Chorale was founded in 1919 as a professional performing arts organization called the Rochester Orchestra. Its earliest ensemble, the Lawler-Dodge Orchestra, was founded in 1912 as a volunteer orchestra, driven by Daisy Plummer, wife of Mayo Clinic physician, Dr. Henry Plummer, and directed by Harold Cooke. In the early years, the Orchestra appeared in the former Chateau Theatre where they performed background music for silent movies.
The Gray Duck Theater, an independent movie theater, opened in 2019.
Rochester also houses the Rochester Public Library near the Civic Center. It is one of the largest libraries in the area and has been awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service
The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is an award given annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to American libraries and museums with outstanding service to their communities. The IMLS refers to the medal as " ...
in 2018.
Sports
Parks and recreation
Rochester's city park system has more than 100 sites covering , including parks located along Bear Creek and South Fork Zumbro rivers. The city also maintains of paved trails.
The city also maintains four public golf courses: Northern Hills, Eastwood Golf Club, Hadley Creek, and Soldiers Field Golf Course located downtown. In addition, a number of private courses are located in the Rochester area, including Willow Creek Golf Club, Oak Summit Golf Club, and the Rochester Golf and Country Club along with a number of courses in smaller surrounding communities. The city of Rochester has also started the bike share program for its community members where the registered members and visitors can rent a bike for free through one of its bike share locations at Rochester Public Library, Peace Plaza or Rochester City Hall.
Quarry Hill
The foundation of Rochester State Hospital began in 1875 as the Minnesota Inebriate Asylum funded by a tax on liquor dealers. Land was purchased in 1876 and construction began in 1877, including the building of a hospital and the park nearby which was used by the patients and their families. In 1965, the park was transferred from the hospital to the state for the use of general public and since then there have been various developments in the park including the laying of paved trails. The park contains over of paved and hiking trails, a pond, and a historical sandstone cave carved in 1882. This soft St. Peter sand stone cave was dug in the late 1800's to store food for the patients of the state hospital. The cave was later abandoned with the invention of modern refrigerators, and is now a historic site.
Quarry Hill Nature Center is the center stone of the Quarry Hill Park in Rochester. The Nature Center opened in 1973, and was expanded in 1990. In 2017, the facility added additional nordic skiing
Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe to heel. Re ...
. These facilities include modern educational facilities, and a 19th-century prairie style home where skis and snow shoes could be rented.
Government and politics
Rochester is governed by a mayor-council government with a seven-member city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
. The current mayor is Kim Norton. As of January 2021, the city council comprises: Brooke Carlson, City Council President; Patrick Keane, 1st Ward; Mark Bransford, 2nd Ward; Nick Campion, 3rd Ward; Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick, 4th Ward; Shaun Palmer, 5th Ward; and Molly Dennis, 6th Ward.
All municipal elected offices in Rochester are non-partisan, as stated in the city's charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
.
Rochester is the seat of Olmsted County, run by a seven-member elected county board, each representing district residents. The County Board of Commissioners oversee county operations and address citizen concerns. When a commissioner is elected, they are elected to serve a 4-year term. When that term ends, the commissioner can run for re-election if they so desire. The County Attorney and the County Sheriff are also elected to 4-year terms and can run for re-election when the term expires if they choose. Each of these elected officials acts as the director for his/her office, and are accountable to the residents of Olmsted County.
Rochester falls under the Olmsted County District Court within the Third Judicial District of the State of Minnesota.
The city includes parts of Minnesota state legislative districts 25 and 26. In the Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...
, District 25A is represented by Duane Quam (R), District 25B is represented by Andy Smith ( DFL), District 26A is represented by Tina Liebling (DFL), and District 26B is represented by Nels Pierson (R). In the Minnesota Senate
The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...
, Rochester is represented by Liz Boldon ( DFL) and Carla Nelson, (R). Rochester is located in Minnesota's 1st congressional district
Minnesota's 1st congressional district spans southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. It is a primarily rural district built on a strong history of agriculture, though this is changing rapidly due to pop ...
, represented by Brad Finstad, a member of the Republican Party.
Rochester continues to trend Democratic in local and federal elections which has resulted in Olmsted County also seeing a shifting electorate. In the 2020 presidential election President Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
obtained nearly 60% of the vote in the city, the highest vote total for a Democratic candidate in history.
US House of Representatives
Minnesota Senate
Minnesota House of Representatives
Education
Rochester Public Schools enroll 16,300 students in 23 public primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Work ...
and secondary schools. The city is divided into three public high school attendance zones: John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...
, Mayo and Century
A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
...
. Private schools in the city include Lourdes
Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...
Schaeffer Academy
and Rochester Central Lutheran School amongst various smaller private religious schools. Studio Academy, a fine arts-focused charter school
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
operated for 10 years in Rochester and closed its doors in 2011 upon losing its charter. The Rochester STEM Academy opened in 2011, occupying the former Studio Academy building.
Higher education in Rochester had been concentrated around the former University Center Rochester in the city's southeast outskirts, where Rochester Community and Technical College shares a campus with a branch of Winona State University
Winona State University is a public university in Winona, Minnesota, United States. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the fi ...
. The University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
offered degrees through UCR until 2007, when the University of Minnesota Rochester was established downtown. Branches of Augsburg University and College of St. Scholastica are also in Rochester, as are branches of Winona State University
Winona State University is a public university in Winona, Minnesota, United States. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the fi ...
and St. Mary's University. The Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...
offers graduate medical education and research programs through the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences.
According to the United States Census Bureau 2011–2015, the number of high school graduates or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+ was 94.1%. The number of bachelor's degree or higher percent of persons age 25+ was 41.3%.
Media
The city newspaper is the '' Post-Bulletin'', an afternoon paper which publishes Monday through Saturday. The Post-Bulletin company also publishes ''Rochester Magazine'', a monthly features periodical.
There are four television stations based in Rochester: KTTC channel 10.1 (NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
), KTTC-( CW) channel 10.2, and KXLT-TV channel 47 ( Fox) are a virtual duopoly. The stations share studios as part of a special agreement between Gray Television
Gray Media, Inc., doing business as Gray Television, is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 statio ...
and SagamoreHill Broadcasting. ABC affiliate KAAL (channel 6) and CBS affiliate KIMT (channel 3) are also based in Rochester. Channel 15 KSMQ (Public Broadcasting Service, PBS) in Austin and channel 24 KYIN (Public Broadcasting Service, PBS) in Mason City, Iowa, Mason City are among the stations that serve the market. KAAL is city of license, licensed to Austin and KIMT is licensed to Mason City, but have a studios in Rochester. KIMT opened a studio in Rochester in late 2017, which now serves as the main setting for their newscasts.
The Rochester area is provided cable service by Charter Communications, which holds a monopoly in the area. Indiana-based Metronet is currently in the process of developing the fiber-optic network to provide cable service to Rochester.
Transportation
Rochester is served by three U.S. highways (U.S. Route 14 in Minnesota, U.S. 14, U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota, U.S. 52, and U.S. Route 63 in Minnesota, U.S. 63), and the southern edge of Rochester is skirted by Interstate 90 in Minnesota, Interstate 90 and Minnesota State Highway 30, State Highway 30. Olmsted County Highway 22 is also a main highway in the city. A combination of skyways and subterranean walkways link most downtown buildings, which residents often use to avoid harsh winter weather conditions. Public bus transit is run by Rochester Public Transit. Its operations are carried out by First Transit. The City of Rochester encourages biking through its numerous trails and to facilitate the biking program all the city buses have bike carriers for easy transportation of bikes.
Rochester International Airport is located south of downtown. The airport is the second busiest commercial airport in Minnesota. It has direct flights to Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, and Minneapolis, with occasional charter flights servicing Riverside Resort in Laughlin, Nevada, Laughlin, Nevada. Nonstop flights to Phoenix and Fort Myers were scheduled to begin in early 2022.
Rochester has a shuttle service connecting to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport by Rochester Shuttle Service and Groome Transportation (formerly Go Rochester Direct).
Rochester's last passenger rail service, to Chicago to the southeast and Rapid City, South Dakota to the west, ended when the Chicago and North Western Railway's ''Rochester 400'' streamliner ended service in 1963. The closest Amtrak station is at Winona station, Winona, Minnesota, to the east. Travelers are able to purchase tickets from Amtrak for a shuttle bus that connects with the daily ''Empire Builder'' at La Crosse station, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Rochester is planning a bus rapid transit line known as Link bus rapid transit, Link. The route will have seven stations along 2nd Street SW and is expected to open in 2025. It will be the first bus rapid transit line in Minnesota outside the Metro (Minnesota), Twin Cities.
Major highways
* – U.S. Route 14 in Minnesota, U.S. Route 14
* – U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota, U.S. Route 52
* – U.S. Route 63 in Minnesota, U.S. Route 63
* – Interstate 90 in Minnesota, Interstate 90
* – Minnesota State Highway 30
See also
* List of people from Rochester, Minnesota
* List of tallest buildings in Rochester, Minnesota
References
General and cited sources
* Faruque, Cathleen Jo. "" (). In: ''Hmong Studies Journal''; 2003. 50 pages.
External links
*
{{Authority control
Rochester, Minnesota,
Cities in Minnesota
County seats in Minnesota
Populated places established in 1854
Cities in Olmsted County, Minnesota
Rochester metropolitan area, Minnesota
Zumbro River
1854 establishments in Minnesota Territory