Each city below carries ZIP-labeled Census figures.
Four nearby cities, each with its ZIP Code count of employer establishments, then four leasing notes for shops, plants, agencies and builders. ZIP Codes reach well past the cities they are named for.
Medford, MN and ZIP 55049: a small employer base around a Steele County, MN city
Medford, MN is a city in Steele County, MN, and its ZIP Code, 55049, covers far more ground than the city does: the city takes up 2.6% of the ZIP’s land. In 2023, 67 employer establishments had a ZIP 55049 address, with 550 paid employees and $16.4 million in annual payroll, and 56.7% of them had fewer than five employees (ZIP Code Business Patterns).
Retail trade led that ZIP’s sector list with 17 establishments, 41.2% of them under five employees, and construction followed with 12. A store there that needs shelf stock ahead of a large order has the same choices as one in Owatonna: inventory financing or a revolving line.
Waseca, MN sits in Waseca County, MN: the ZIP 56093 employer count
Waseca, MN lies in Waseca County, MN, so Steele County, MN figures do not describe it, and the numbers here are for its ZIP Code alone. The city takes up just 2.2% of the land in ZIP 56093, where ZIP Code Business Patterns placed 305 employer establishments and 3,404 paid employees in 2023. Annual payroll at those establishments came to $173.5 million.
Health care and social assistance had 44 of those establishments, retail trade 40 and other services 38; construction had 36, and 77.8% of the construction group had fewer than five employees. The health care group is the Census sector that holds dental offices, and a Waseca, MN practice adding a chair or an imaging unit can read the dental chairs and imaging article first. The 14 manufacturing establishments in the ZIP were larger: only 21.4% of them had fewer than five. A Waseca, MN plant pricing a machine can start on the equipment financing page.
Ellendale, MN and what the ZIP 56026 employer figures cover
Ellendale, MN is a Steele County, MN city whose ZIP Code, 56026, is mostly land outside the city: Ellendale itself covers 0.8% of it. The ZIP had 35 employer establishments in 2023, 25 of them with fewer than five employees, and together they paid $8.6 million to 205 employees (ZIP Code Business Patterns).
Other services, the Census group that holds repair shops, salons and similar trades, had 6 of those establishments, and administrative and support services had 5. With counts this small, a request can rest on the business’s own bank statements and tax return far more than on any local figure, and the working capital page shows how a payroll gap is sized.
Blooming Prairie, MN, split between two counties: the ZIP 55917 figures
Blooming Prairie, MN lies partly in Steele County, MN and partly in Dodge County, MN, so neither county’s figures describe it. Its ZIP Code, 55917, held 107 employer establishments in 2023 with 818 paid employees, and 66.4% of the establishments had fewer than five employees; the city covers 1.1% of the ZIP’s land (ZIP Code Business Patterns).
Construction topped the ZIP’s sector list with 19 establishments, every one of them under five employees, ahead of other services with 18, retail trade with 10 and wholesale trade with 9. A one- or two-person crew buying a skid steer or a trailer can compare equipment financing with a term loan before calling.
How a Steele County, MN auto shop leases retail space
An auto repair shop leasing space in Steele County, MN, where 29 auto repair and maintenance employer establishments operated in 2023 (County Business Patterns), needs a building that suits the work before the rent looks reasonable. Retail space for a garage is a narrower search than it sounds.
- Check with the city or county that a repair use is allowed at the address before paying a deposit.
- Measure the bays: door height, ceiling clearance for a lift, and floor thickness where lift posts will be anchored.
- Ask about floor drains, ventilation and waste oil storage, and who pays to add them.
- Read the signage terms and the hours the building allows work.
- Get the rent, the common-area charges and the yearly increases in writing, then size any loan for lifts and tools around that fixed monthly cost.
A commercial lease checklist for Steele County, MN manufacturers
A plant lease runs longer and costs more to undo than an office lease. Fabricated metal product manufacturing alone counted 10 establishments in Steele County, MN in 2023 (County Business Patterns, NAICS 332), and a shop like that cannot simply move its presses once they are wired and anchored.
- Power: three-phase service, amperage at the panel and who pays for upgrades.
- Floor load and clear height for the heaviest machine and the racking.
- Dock doors, truck access and outdoor storage rights.
- Term, renewal options and yearly rent increases.
- Triple-net charges: property tax, building insurance and common-area maintenance.
- Who repairs the roof, the HVAC units and the parking lot.
- What has to be removed or restored when the lease ends, including machine foundations.
- The personal guarantee and whether the lease can pass to a buyer of the business.
Leasing commercial office space in Steele County, MN as an insurance agency
For an insurance agency the space is small but public: clients walk in, so parking, a street-facing sign and a private room for policy reviews matter more than square footage. In Steele County, MN, 21 of the 26 insurance agency and brokerage establishments had fewer than five employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns).
Ask whether the quoted square footage is usable or rentable, since rentable space includes a share of hallways and lobbies. Confirm after-hours access, internet wiring, and whether the landlord will rent space nearby to a competing agency. A sublease right helps if the agency later merges or shrinks.
What landlords around Steele County, MN require from home builders
Home builders lease yards, shops and small offices, and a landlord weighs the tenant before signing. Steele County, MN counted 26 residential building construction employer establishments in 2023, 23 of them with fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns). Nonemployer Statistics, a separate count, found 60 residential building construction businesses without paid employees in the county in 2024.
A landlord can ask a builder for any of these before signing:
- Two years of business tax returns, or personal returns for a newer company.
- The last few months of bank statements and a profit and loss report for this year.
- A security deposit, sometimes larger for a yard where equipment and materials are stored.
- A personal guarantee from the owner.
- A certificate of insurance naming the landlord.
- Documentation of the entity's registration and current good standing.
Those same records are what a funding partner reviews later, so keeping one current set serves both the lease and any loan for a truck, a trailer or materials. More about funding in the city itself is on the Owatonna, MN page.
By Snowleaf Financial · Updated