Best Places56288, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 56288, 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.
56288 ranks 3,210th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 56288
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.
56288's strengths and weaknesses
Where 56288 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 56288 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 38% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 40% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 56288
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 56288 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,138, 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 56288's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 56288
56288 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 56288.
Who works in 56288, and how
Work in 56288 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 56288
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 56288.
What the weather is like in 56288, month by month
56288 sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 16° | 8° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 48° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 56288
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around 56288
Schools across 56288 average a B+, better than 76% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Woods ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- A.c.g.c. ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Kennedy ElementaryC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- New London-spicer MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Acgc Elementary Grades 5 And 6B · 45% proficient
- Willmar Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- New London-spicer Sr.B+ · 57% proficient
- Willmar Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
- A.c.g.c. SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 56288 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
56288 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 56288 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 56288
Is 56288 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 56288 ranks 3,210th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, low crime, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 56288 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $365,933. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $100,138 median income, cost of living beats 82% of zip codes.
Is 56288 safe?
Yes, 56288 is safer than 92% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
Compare 56288 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 56288. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 56288 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.
56288 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 56288: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 56288: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 56288: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 56288: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
56288 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.