Best Places55116, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 55116, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
55116 ranks 2,682nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 55116
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.
55116's strengths and weaknesses
Where 55116 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 55116 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 3% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 55116
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 55116 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $97,118, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 55116's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 55116
55116 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 55116.
Who works in 55116, and how
Work in 55116 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 55116
55116 has more parkland per resident than 99% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 55116 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 55116, month by month
55116 sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 55116
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 3 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 55116
Schools across 55116 average a B−, better than 57% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion AcademyA · 70% proficient
- Horace Mann SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Highland Park ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Highland Park Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Hidden River Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Senior HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Highland Park Senior HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 55116 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
55116 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 55116 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 55116 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 66% of zip codes and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in 55116
Is 55116 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 55116 ranks 2,682nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 55116 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $447,867. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $97,118 median income, cost of living beats 85% of zip codes.
Is 55116 safe?
55116 is safer than 24% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 55116?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 27 with lows near 10. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of zip codes.
Is 55116 good for families?
Schools beat 57% of zip codes, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Compare 55116 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 55116. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 55116 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.
55116 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 55116: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 55116: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 55116: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 55116: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
55116 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.