Best Places56017, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 56017, 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.
56017 ranks 5,822nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 56017
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.
56017's strengths and weaknesses
Where 56017 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 79% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 56017 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 30% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 32% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 56017
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 56017 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,341, 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 56017's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 56017
56017 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 56017.
Who works in 56017, and how
Work in 56017 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 56017
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 56017.
What the weather is like in 56017, month by month
56017 sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 56017
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 49 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 56017
Schools across 56017 average a B−, better than 51% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Waterville ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Cleveland ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- St. Peter Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Waterville-elysian-morristown Jr.C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Peter High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Waterville-elysian-morristown Sr.B− · 45% proficient
- Cleveland SecondaryC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 56017 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
56017 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 56017 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 56017
Is 56017 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 56017 ranks 5,822nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and what local pay buys, and lowest on taxes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 56017 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $309,375. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $91,341 median income, cost of living beats 82% of zip codes.
Is 56017 safe?
Yes, 56017 is safer than 96% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $162 per resident a year.
Compare 56017 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 56017. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 56017 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.
56017 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 56017: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 56017: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 56017: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 56017: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
56017 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.