Fact Sheet - Manufactured Home Parks in Minnesota

  • Manufactured (mobile) home parks are governed by Minnesota Statute 327C and are licensed through the Minnesota Department of Health or the county. There are over 900 licensed parks distributed among nearly all 87 counties in Minnesota.

  • There are almost 180,000 individuals residing in these parks who are, according to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines, 80 percent low- to very-low income.

  • Manufactured homes make up 5 percent of all households, with two-thirds on home owner land and one-third on park land.

  • There are more units of affordable housing in manufactured home parks (48,700) than there are HUD subsidized units (36,000) and Rural Development units (12,400) combined.

  • Manufactured home parks provide a vital affordable housing option ($418 mean monthly rent statewide), compared with traditional, stick-built homes and apartment units.

  • Manufactured homes in parks in Minnesota are 87 percent owner occupied, thus providing an opportunity for low- to moderate-income home ownership.

  • The affordability of park housing and the opportunity for home ownership can encourage long-term residency (42 percent of residents have lived in the same unit for 10 or more years) and therefore greater ties to and investment in the community.

  • Parks are the leading source of independent housing for Latino migrant workers in southern Minnesota and Latino residents make up over 90 percent of residents in some parks.

  • Residents are in a vulnerable housing situation, since they own their homes but not the land, and face a number of threats, including the park being sold or closed, needed improvements not being made, unfair or inconsistently applied park rules, profit-driven rent increases, and an inability to accumulate equity.

  • Manufactured home parks are located on some of the most valuable land for commercial redevelopment and parks are steadily closing, with new parks rarely opening.

  • The closure of a park can be financially devastating for residents and most often means the loss of their homes and no where to move within their means, because their home cannot be moved because of age, moving costs (averaging $4,500 rural and $6,500 metro for a single wide), shortage of available lots, or parks barring homes over 10 years old (71 percent).

  • As many as 1,000 of the estimated 55,000 parks in the United States are now owned by residents through cooperatives, land trusts, or nonprofit purchases, including more than 20 percent of all parks in New Hampshire. Since 2004, Minnesota has gained its first park cooperatives, Sunrise Villa in Cannon Falls, Paul Revere in Lexington, Bennett in Moorhead, Madelia Mobile Village in Madelia, Park Plaza in Fridley, Stonegate in Lindstrom, and Five Lakes in Fairmont.