Best Places55009, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 55009, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
55009 ranks 7,926th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 55009
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
55009's strengths and weaknesses
Where 55009 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 55009 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,148 a month, better than only 21% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 40% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 46% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 51% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 55009
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 55009 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,871, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 55009's effective rate of 0.95%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 55009
55009 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 55009.
Who works in 55009, and how
Work in 55009 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 55009
55009 has more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 55009 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 55009, month by month
55009 sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 55009
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 31 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 55009
Schools across 55009 average a C+, better than 52% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Goodhue ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Cannon Falls ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Pinecrest ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hastings Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Twin Bluff SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Kenyon-wanamingo MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Hastings High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Zumbrota-mazeppa Senior HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Cannon Falls SecondaryB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 55009 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
55009 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 55009 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 55009
Is 55009 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 55009 ranks 7,926th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, state infrastructure, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 55009 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $340,259. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $94,871 median income, cost of living beats 77% of zip codes.
Is 55009 safe?
55009 is safer than 52% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $336 per resident a year.
Compare 55009 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 55009. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 55009 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
55009 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 55009: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 55009: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 55009: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 55009: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
55009 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.