Best Places56073, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 56073, 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.
56073 ranks 6,285th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 56073
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.
56073's strengths and weaknesses
Where 56073 ranks high
- Short commute13.6 minutes each way, better than 98% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 56073 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 39% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 40% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 56073
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 56073 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,606, 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 56073's effective rate of 1.04%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 56073
56073's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 56073.
Who works in 56073, and how
Work in 56073 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 56073
56073 has more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 56073 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 56073, month by month
56073 sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 56073
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 73 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 56073
Schools across 56073 average a B+, better than 75% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lk Crystal Wellcome Memorial ElA · 70% proficient
- Nicollet Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Sleepy Eye ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Ulm Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- New Ulm High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Nicollet High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Sleepy Eye Sec.B · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 56073 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
56073 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 56073 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 56073
Is 56073 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 56073 ranks 6,285th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, state infrastructure, and biking, and lowest on noise and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 56073 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,764. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $73,606 median income, cost of living beats 51% of zip codes.
Is 56073 safe?
Yes, 56073 is safer than 88% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare 56073 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 56073. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 56073 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.
56073 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 56073: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 56073: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 56073: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 56073: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
56073 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.