City guides / Duluth

DULUTH web design.

Endcap Design is a web design agency that designs and builds websites for businesses, with the branding and marketing to match, and works remotely with clients outside Southern California. This guide collects the business numbers, building activity, and Minnesota rules we would look at before designing a site for a business in Duluth or elsewhere in the metro, including Superior, Hibbing, Cloquet, and Hermantown.

Updated October 2026 with building permits through August 2026, from U.S. Census Bureau data. Sources are listed at the end of this page.

Map of the United States showing Orange County, California, and the cities covered by our city guidesDuluthOrange County

Endcap is based in Orange County, California, and works remotely with clients outside Southern California by video call, phone, and email.

The market

DULUTH
in numbers.

The figures that shape who a Duluth website is for and what it needs to do. Each figure is the most recent Census release in this guide’s data, with its year shown.

281,219

residents in the metro

Census population estimate, July 2025

+0.2%

population change since 2020

April 2020 to July 2025; the US grew 3.1%

7,066

business locations with employees

County Business Patterns 2023

239

real estate businesses

NAICS 531, 2023

34

property management companies

Residential and nonresidential, 2023

513

new housing units permitted

January through August 2026

$69,309

median household income

American Community Survey 2024

29%

of households rent their home

36,752 renter households

Business mix

WHO DOES BUSINESS
in Duluth.

Builders and developers are the most concentrated of these businesses in the Duluth metro: 89 for every 100,000 residents, and their share of local businesses is 1.17 times the national share. Specialty contractors follow at 1.09 times the national share. Self-storage operators are less common here than nationally, at 0.38 times the national share.

The chart compares each sector’s share of Duluth-area business locations with its share nationally (a location quotient). 1.00× matches the US; higher means the sector is more concentrated here. County Business Patterns 2023.

  1. Builders and developers251 locations · 89 per 100,000 residents1.17×
  2. Specialty contractors479 locations · 170 per 100,000 residents1.09×
  3. Restaurants and bars606 locations · 215 per 100,000 residents1.00×
  4. Architecture and engineering firms99 locations · 35 per 100,000 residents1.00×
  5. Commercial building owners25 locations · 9 per 100,000 residents0.86×
  6. Dental offices88 locations · 31 per 100,000 residents0.77×
  7. Real estate brokerages84 locations · 30 per 100,000 residents0.61×
  8. Law offices84 locations · 30 per 100,000 residents0.55×
  9. Property management companies34 locations · 12 per 100,000 residents0.51×
  10. Self-storage operators6 locations · 2 per 100,000 residents0.38×

Building activity

WHAT’S BEING
built.

New buildings mean new properties to lease and new businesses to open. Census Building Permits Survey, August 2026.

Builders in the Duluth metro were authorized to build 513 new housing units from January through August 2026, 37% more than the 374 in the same months of 2025.

37% of those units are in buildings with five or more homes, against 32% nationally.

The pipeline mixes single-family subdivisions with apartment buildings, so builders, property managers, and the retail landlords who follow new rooftops all have something to launch.

Jan–Aug 2025374
Jan–Aug 2026513
  • Single-family 314
  • Two to four units 8
  • Five or more 191

What this means for your site

BUILT FOR
Duluth.

What we would plan into a Duluth website, based on the numbers above.

Talk through your site
  1. 01

    Launch before the building opens

    37% of new homes permitted this year are in buildings of five or more units. Pre-leasing websites need to be live months before the first move-in.

  2. 02

    Room for new projects

    Housing permits are up 37% over the same months last year. Each new project needs a name, a site plan, and a pre-leasing page, and the retail around it usually follows.

  3. 03

    Privacy notice and opt-outs

    The Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act applies to many businesses that collect visitors’ details in Minnesota. A covered site needs a current privacy notice and working opt-out links, and it must honor browser opt-out signals such as Global Privacy Control.

  4. 04

    Accessible by default

    Every site we build follows WCAG 2.2 AA practice: readable contrast, keyboard navigation, labeled forms, and text alternatives for images. Federal ADA website lawsuits run into the thousands each year, most of them filed in New York, Florida, and Illinois.

Minnesota rules

WHAT THE LAW
asks of your site.

State rules that change what goes on a business or real estate website in Minnesota, checked against official sources as of October 9, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; your counsel owns the final wording.

Privacy

Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act

Minn. Stat. §§ 325M.10 to 325M.21 · in effect since July 31, 2025 Source

The law applies to entities that conduct business in Minnesota or target products or services to Minnesota residents and that, during a calendar year, control or process personal data of 100,000 consumers or more, not counting data processed solely to complete a payment transaction. It also applies to entities that derive over 25 percent of gross revenue from the sale of personal data and process or control personal data of 25,000 consumers or more. Small businesses as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration are excluded, except that § 325M.17 bars them from selling a consumer's sensitive data without the consumer's prior consent.

What the website needs
  • A covered controller's privacy notice must list the categories of personal data processed, the purposes of processing, the consumer's rights and how to exercise and appeal them, the categories of personal data sold or shared with third parties, the categories of third parties that receive it, the controller's contact information including an active email address or other online contact method, a description of its data retention policies, and the date the notice was last updated.
  • The privacy notice must be posted online through a conspicuous hyperlink that uses the word "privacy" on the controller's website home page, or on a mobile application's app store or download page.
  • A controller that sells personal data, processes it for targeted advertising, or uses profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects must disclose that processing in the privacy notice and must also provide a clear and conspicuous opt-out method outside the notice, which the statute says may include a hyperlink labeled "Your Opt-Out Rights" or "Your Privacy Rights."
  • A controller may not process sensitive data without the consumer's consent, and for a known child consent must come from a parent or guardian in line with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Real estate advertising

What a Minnesota brokerage site must show

Minn. Stat. § 82.69 (2025); Minn. Stat. § 82.81, subds. 2 and 12(a)(8) Source

Minnesota law requires any advertising by a real estate licensee to clearly and conspicuously display the real estate brokerage name. A team or group name may appear in advertising only if the primary broker authorizes it and the brokerage name is also clearly and conspicuously displayed.

What the website needs
  • Any advertising by a licensee must clearly and conspicuously display the real estate brokerage name (Minn. Stat. 82.69(a)).
  • A salesperson or broker who is part of a team or group may include the team or group name in advertising only if the primary broker of the brokerage authorizes it and the real estate brokerage name is clearly and conspicuously displayed in the same advertising (Minn. Stat. 82.69(b)).
  • Advertising that is misleading or inaccurate with respect to properties, terms, values, policies, or services conducted by the licensee is a fraudulent, deceptive, or dishonest practice (Minn. Stat. 82.81, subd. 12(a)(8)).
  • No person may advertise or represent themselves to be a real estate broker or salesperson unless licensed (Minn. Stat. 82.81, subd. 2).
  • The statute applies to 'any advertising by a licensee' and does not separately mention websites or social media, does not require a license number, and does not set separate rules for individual web pages versus a homepage.

Accessibility

State technology accessibility standards

Minn. Stat. § 16E.03, subd. 9 Source

Minnesota's chief information officer must set accessibility standards for state technology that incorporate Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and WCAG 2.0, and must require state executive branch agencies to follow them unless an exception is approved.

What we design

FOR DULUTH
businesses.

Ordered by how concentrated each kind of business is in the Duluth metro. We design for every kind of business.

Portfolio

RECENT
work.

Websites and identities we have designed and built for our clients. See all of our work.

Client words

IN THEIR
words.

We own ten homes at Casa De Laguna and were still sending people to a site built in 2013. Noah pulled the photos and details out of the old site, designed a logo from the rooflines and the pond, and put the community, the homes and current availability in one place. It’s the first time the website has looked like the place we actually rent.

OwnerGreat OC CondosSee the project

“Highly recommend. Great work.”

Dan ParkerGreat OC Condos · Google review

FAQ

DULUTH
questions.

Anything else? Ask us directly or text Noah at (425) 233-0769.

How many real estate businesses are in the Duluth area?

The Census Bureau counted 239 real estate business locations with employees in the Duluth metro in 2023, including 84 offices of agents and brokers and 34 property management companies.

How much new construction is happening in Duluth?

From January through August 2026, the Duluth metro permitted 513 new housing units, 37% more than a year earlier, according to the Census Building Permits Survey.

Does Minnesota have a privacy law that affects business websites?

Yes. The Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (Minn. Stat. §§ 325M.10 to 325M.21) took effect July 31, 2025. The law applies to entities that conduct business in Minnesota or target products or services to Minnesota residents and that, during a calendar year, control or process personal data of 100,000 consumers or more, not counting data processed solely to complete a payment transaction. It also applies to entities that derive over 25 percent of gross revenue from the sale of personal data and process or control personal data of 25,000 consumers or more.

What does Minnesota require on a real estate website?

Minnesota law requires any advertising by a real estate licensee to clearly and conspicuously display the real estate brokerage name. A team or group name may appear in advertising only if the primary broker authorizes it and the brokerage name is also clearly and conspicuously displayed. (Minn. Stat. § 82.69 (2025); Minn. Stat. § 82.81, subds. 2 and 12(a)(8))

Do you work with Duluth businesses remotely?

Yes. Endcap is based in Orange County, California, and works remotely with clients outside Southern California by video call, phone, and email. You review the design and the working site online before launch.

How much does a website cost?

We quote each project after a short conversation, once we know the pages, content, and features it needs. The proposal lists the deliverables, schedule, and price, and we agree on it before work begins.

How long does a website take?

Most websites take two to four weeks once the content is ready. The proposal confirms the schedule.

Nearby city guides

Other markets near Duluth

Sources

Figures are for the metropolitan statistical area unless noted. Business counts cover locations with paid employees. Data refreshed 2026-10-10.

Contact Endcap

START A
project.

A website, a brand, or a complete set of materials.
We reply within an hour during business hours, and we only use your details to answer you.

Start a project or call or text Noah at (425) 233-0769

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