Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is a city and the county seat of Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, set along rolling bluffs on the south fork of the Zumbro River in Southeast Minnesota. Its population was 121,395 at the 2020 census and was estimated at 124,292 in 2025, which makes it the third-most populous city in Minnesota, with a metropolitan area of roughly 230,000 residents. It is the home and birthplace of the Mayo Clinic. The town first developed as a stagecoach stop between Dubuque, Iowa, and Saint Paul, Minnesota, and later became a national center for healthcare and a hub for regional agriculture, with the University of Minnesota Rochester, Rochester Community and Technical College and the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine located in the city.