Empty housing is hard to find throughout Minnesota, except for a few counties in northern Minnesota.
Empty housing is hard to find throughout Minnesota, except for a few counties in northern Minnesota. There, the housing vacancy rate is higher than in most other parts of the nation and the state, according to census data released Wednesday. Nearly 25 percent of the housing units in northern Minnesota are considered vacant by the U.S. Census because they're mostly cabins used only seasonally. The statewide vacancy rate is 8.3 percent. The 2000 census reported lower rates in cities and much higher ones in small towns.