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Home services · Small-town market · Minnesota

HVAC and plumbing companies in the Albert Lea, MN area

How the Albert Lea, MN area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for HVAC and plumbing companies: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 53 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #198 of 476 scored small-town markets
#3 of 16 scored small-town markets based in Minnesota

Listings
6
0 chain locations (0%)
Official establishments
12
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$33.3M
On home repairs, maintenance and insurance · $2,593 a household
Spending per listing
$5.6M
17% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
4.7
25% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
30,440
−1.5% since 2020

See the HVAC and plumbing companies around any address in the Albert Lea area

The site report maps the HVAC and plumbing companies on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Albert Lea area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Household spending on home repairs, maintenance and insurance in the Albert Lea area comes to about $33.3M a year: $2,593 per household, 14% below the U.S. average. Spread across 6 HVAC and plumbing companies, that is $5.6M per company, 17% above the U.S. figure of $4.8M. The spending figure covers all home repairs, maintenance and insurance, not only HVAC and plumbing companies.

The Albert Lea area has 6 HVAC and plumbing companies on map listings as of September 2026. None of them are chain locations, against 4% across the U.S. That comes to 4.7 for every 10,000 households, 25% below the U.S. rate of 6.3.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in the Albert Lea area was 12 in 2023. That is one for every 1,071 households, against one for every 1,162 across the U.S.

Population estimates put the population change in the Albert Lea area from 2020 to 2025 at −1.5%, against +3.1% for the U.S. For HVAC and plumbing companies, the Albert Lea area has a Groundwork market score of 53 (upper middle): #198 of 476 scored small-town markets and #3 of 16 scored small-town markets based in Minnesota.

How the Albert Lea area compares

The same measures for Minnesota and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all home repairs, maintenance and insurance by the HVAC and plumbing companies counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

HVAC and plumbing in Albert Lea, MN area compared with Minnesota and the U.S.
MeasureAlbert Lea areaMinnesotaU.S.
Listings per 10k households4.76.36.3
Spending per listing$5.6M$4.8M$4.8M
Households per official establishment1,0711,2711,162
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+1.8%+7.6%
Population growth, 2020–2025−1.5%+2.1%+3.1%
Spending per household on home repairs, maintenance and insurance$2,593$2,990$3,018
Median household income$71,023$89,062$80,734
Groundwork market score5357

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
12
Employees, 2023
78
Annual payroll, 2023
$5.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
60 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
7The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
0
Amount
$0

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in the Albert Lea area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the Albert Lea area

Population, 2025 estimate
30,440−1.5% since 2020
Households
12,846
Median age
45.4
Homes lived in by their owners
80%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
707 sq. mi.
People per square mile
43
Median household income
$71,023+32.4% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$93,926
Median home value
$171,100
Jobs located here
11,051
Daytime population
27,708Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Albert Lea area?

These figures cover the whole small-town market. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the HVAC and plumbing companies on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Albert Lea area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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HVAC and plumbing across Minnesota

Every Minnesota market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Minnesota for HVAC and plumbing companies, numbered among those based in Minnesota, with the Albert Lea area marked.

Top small-town markets in Minnesota

Small-town markets in Minnesota ranked for HVAC and plumbing companies by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Owatonna, MN66106.6$4.2M+0.2%#82 of 476
2Fergus Falls, MN55135.2$5.1M+1.6%#177 of 476
3Albert Lea, MN5364.7$5.6M−1.5%#198 of 476
4Alexandria, MN51126.8$4M+2.6%#224 of 476
5Winona, MN51146.9$3.8M+1.8%#227 of 476
6Bemidji, MN49116.1$4.3M+1.8%#249 of 476
7Red Wing, MN47147.1$3.9M+1.3%#271 of 476
8Austin, MN47138.3$3.2M+2.3%#274 of 476
9Faribault-Northfield, MN46239.8$2.9M+4.2%#280 of 476
10Willmar, MN45148.0$3.4M+2.3%#289 of 476

Other business types in the Albert Lea area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many HVAC and plumbing companies are in the Albert Lea, MN area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 6 HVAC and plumbing companies in the Albert Lea area. None of them are chain locations. The listings count heating and air-conditioning companies and plumbers. Official counts show 12 businesses with payroll classed as plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in 2023.

How much do households in the Albert Lea, MN area spend on home repairs, maintenance and insurance?

About $33.3M a year, or $2,593 per household. That is 14% below the U.S. average (an index of 86, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 6 HVAC and plumbing companies on map listings, it comes to $5.6M per company. That spending covers all home repairs, maintenance and insurance, which HVAC and plumbing companies share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 12,846 households in the Albert Lea area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Albert Lea, MN area compare with the U.S. for HVAC and plumbing companies?

The Albert Lea area has 4.7 HVAC and plumbing companies per 10,000 households, 25% below the U.S. rate of 6.3. Spending per company is $5.6M, 17% above the U.S. figure of $4.8M. At the U.S. ratio of HVAC and plumbing companies to household spending, the Albert Lea area would have about 7, against 6 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,071 households, against one for every 1,162 across the U.S.

How fast is the Albert Lea, MN area growing?

Population estimates put the Albert Lea area at 30,440 people in 2025, down 1.5% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 12,846 households. Median household income in the Albert Lea area is $71,023, 12% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 32.4%, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Albert Lea area scores 53 for HVAC and plumbing companies (upper middle), #198 of 476 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Albert Lea area. It maps the HVAC and plumbing companies on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for HVAC and plumbing companies · All 56 business types in the Albert Lea area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Albert Lea area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the Albert Lea area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.