Best Places55955, MN Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 55955, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

55955 ranks 1,190th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.

#1,190
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 55955

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 55955 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

55955's strengths and weaknesses

#1190Best US zip overall
Top 3%Heat safety
Top 5%Civic engagement
Top 5%The weather
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 55955 with other zip codes.

Where 55955 ranks high

  • Heat safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
  • Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of zip codes
  • Nice weatherabout 186 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of zip codes
  • Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of zip codes
  • Household income$130,325 median, better than 93% of zip codes

Where 55955 ranks low

  • Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
  • TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
  • Low property taxBetter than only 36% of zip codes
  • Internet speedBetter than only 36% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$954 a month, better than only 37% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 55955

A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 55955 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $130,325, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$105,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$2,456
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $392,281 home
Median rent
$1,404
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$2,000
Property tax$325
Homeowners insurance$131

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 55955's effective rate of 0.99%, 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.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 55955

55955 runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.

Median age
43
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
14%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.7
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1822%
18 to 3418%
35 to 4921%
50 to 6424%
65 and older14%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 55955.


Who works in 55955, and how

Work in 55955 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
18%
above the national average
Unemployment
3.7%
below the national average
Job growth
+7.9%
/y 2019-2023, faster than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social27%
Manufacturing15%
Retail trade11%
Construction8%
Education8%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 77%
  • Work from home 18%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 5%

Life in 55955

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 55955.


What the weather is like in 55955, month by month

55955 sees roughly 186 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January24°16°10°
April55°44°35°
July81°71°62°
October59°48°40°

Flying in and out of 55955

The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 61 miles away.

Nearest airport
RST
Rochester International, about 17 miles
Airport size
Nonhub
224th-busiest in the US, 3 nonstop destinations
Average drive
24 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 55955

Schools across 55955 average a B+, better than 77% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 55955 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


55955 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 55955 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 55955

Is 55955 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 55955 ranks 1,190th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, civic engagement, and the weather, and lowest on taxes and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 55955 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $392,281. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $130,325 median income, cost of living beats 94% of zip codes.

Is 55955 safe?

Yes, 55955 is safer than 84% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.


Compare 55955 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 55955. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 55955 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.

55955 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 55955: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 55955: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 55955: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 55955: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

55955 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.