Austin, Minnesota

Austin, Minnesota
City
Clockwise from top: day city,ca St. Augustine's Church, Paramount Theater, Spam Museum, Hormel Historic Home
Seal
Nickname:  SPAM Town USA
Location of the city of Austin within Mower County in the state of Minnesota
Coordinates: 43°40′12″N 92°58′50″W / 43.67000°N 92.98056°W / 43.67000; -92.98056
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Mower
Platted	Spring of 1856
Incorporated as a village	March 6, 1868
Incorporated as a city	February 28, 1871
Government
• Mayor	Stephen M. King
Area [1]
• City	13.39 sq mi (34.7 km2)
• Land	13.29 sq mi (34.4 km2)
• Water	0.11 sq mi (0.3 km2)
Elevation [2]	1,211 ft (369 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• City	26,174
• Estimate  (2022)[4]	26,208
• Density	1,972.45/sq mi (761.57/km2)
• Urban	25,479
• Metro	40,140 (US: 315th)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	55912
Area code	507
FIPS code	27-02908[5]
GNIS	2394037[2]
Website	ci.austin.mn.us

Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census.^[3] The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Pond. It was named for Austin R. Nichols, the area's first European settler.^[6]

Hormel Foods Corporation is Austin's largest employer, and the city is sometimes called "SPAM Town USA".^[7] Austin is home to Hormel's corporate headquarters, a factory that makes most of North America's SPAM tinned meat, and the Spam Museum. Austin is also home to the Hormel Institute, a leading cancer research institution operated by the University of Minnesota with significant support from the Mayo Clinic.^[8]