U.S. Route 169 and Minnesota State Highway 200 are two of the main arterial routes in the community.
As of the census of 2000, there were 479 people, 213 households, and 120 families residing in the city. The population density was 441.1 people per square mile (169.7/km²). There were 391 housing units at an average density of 360.1/sq mi (138.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.49% White, 1.88% Native American, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.67% of the population. 29.1% were of German, 15.7% Norwegian, 8.8% Irish, 5.9% Finnish and 5.2% French Canadian ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 213 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $22,308, and the median income for a family was $25,000. Males had a median income of $25,972 versus $17,750 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,742. About 15.3% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.4% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.