Elk River, MN Real Estate
Population 25,936 · Median home value $305,700
Elk River Home Prices & New Construction
Based on 625 market home sales in Elk River over the last 12 months. Figures as of September 2026.
New construction: 107 newly built homes sold in Elk River over the last 12 months, starting around $290,000 (median $474,900). New construction under $300,000 is rare here — just 1 sold in the last year. If you're shopping under $300k, you'll find far more among existing homes:
100 homes sold under $300,000 in Elk River in the last 12 months.
| Price range | Homes sold (12 mo) |
|---|---|
| Under $200k | 26 |
| $200k–$300k | 74 |
| $300k–$400k | 127 |
| $400k–$500k | 200 |
| $500k–$700k | 116 |
| $700k+ | 82 |
Median sale price: $446,524 · Median price per sq ft: $229
The median sale price is roughly flat over the last year ($446,524, versus $444,990 a year earlier).
Source: ATTOM. As of September 2026. Market sales only (excludes transfers between family members and similar non-market deeds); individual transactions and owners are not shown.
About Elk River
Elk River is a city and the county seat of Sherburne County, Minnesota, United States, approximately 34 miles northwest of Minneapolis. It is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Elk Rivers. The population was 25,835 at the 2020 census, making Elk River the second largest city with an area of 42.33 square miles in the Central Minnesota region after St. Cloud. It is the county seat. U.S. Highways 10 and 169 and State Highway 101 are three of the main routes in Elk River. Elk River is located 33.2 miles northwest of Minneapolis and 37.4 miles southeast of St.
What Locals Know About Elk River
# What Locals Know About Elk River
*Local insight from Leah Studaker, REALTOR® — Northwest MN Homes*
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Most people moving to Elk River are chasing the same two things at once: a town that still feels like a town, and the ability to get anywhere in the Twin Cities without planning your day around it. Elk River is one of the few places north of the metro that genuinely delivers both.
## The thing that surprises people
Newcomers assume small town means driving thirty minutes for anything. It doesn't. Costco is ten minutes away. So is the Albertville Outlet Mall. Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Menards and Aldi are all inside fifteen minutes, and downtown Maple Grove is about the same. Everything you'd normally leave town for is already here.
What you're not paying for is the Plymouth or Maple Grove address. That's where the value is.
## What $400,000 actually buys
This is the comparison that changes people's minds.
In Elk River, that budget gets you a nice two-story, a split-level, or a rambler on a manageable lot — homes that don't need work.
Spend the same $400,000 in Rogers or Maple Grove and you're usually looking at something more dated that needs real money put into it, or a split-level in an older neighborhood on a noticeably smaller lot.
Same money. Materially different house.
## Two neighborhoods people ask about
**Oak Hill** — large, manicured lots near the golf course, with homes running about twenty years old. Well-kept and consistent. This is the one people picture when they imagine moving here.
**The Mississippi neighborhood** — older homes, more dated, but sitting on serious land. Lots run from a half acre up to several acres, and it's closer to the schools. Different buyer entirely, and the people who want it really want it.
## The complaint nobody mentions in the brochure
School Street. Five schools sit on that one street, and during the school year, drop-off and pick-up are genuinely difficult. Locals plan around it. It's the first thing residents bring up and the last thing a newcomer thinks to ask about.
Worth knowing before you decide where in town you want to be.
## What people stay for
The outdoors are the real draw. Two rivers, Lake Orono, and more than a dozen parks — including the Elk River Hill City Bike Park, which has purpose-built mountain biking terrain you don't find in most suburbs.
Beyond that: festivals, summer concerts, the Sherburne County Fair, two golf courses, and senior centers. For schools, there are two charter options alongside the public district, one running kindergarten through sixth and another sixth through twelfth.
And if you have a football family, Elk River High School has been to the state championship five or six times in the last decade and won three or four of them. On Friday nights in the fall, that matters more than you'd expect.
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**Thinking about a move to Elk River?** Leah Studaker knows this market — which neighborhoods fit which buyers, and what your budget actually gets you here. Reach out and she'll tell you straight.
— from Leah Studaker, local agent
Your Local Elk River Real Estate Agent
Leah Studaker is the featured agent for Elk River, MN.
School Districts Serving Elk River
- Elk River Area ISD 728
Elk River Area ISD 728 serves grades PK–12 across 28 schools with about 14,577 students.
Grades PK–12 · 28 schools · 14,577 students
- St. Francis Area School District
St. Francis Area School District serves grades PK–12 across 16 schools with about 4,281 students.
Grades PK–12 · 16 schools · 4,281 students