Best Places56641, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 56641, 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.
56641 ranks 26,478th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 56641
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.
56641's strengths and weaknesses
Where 56641 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 56641 ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 56641
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 56641 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,189, 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 56641's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 56641
56641 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 56641.
Who works in 56641, and how
Work in 56641 centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 56641
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 56641.
What the weather is like in 56641, month by month
56641 sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 11° | 2° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 53° | 44° | 37° |
Flying in and out of 56641
The nearest airport, Bemidji Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around 56641
Schools across 56641 average a D, better than 5% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- W.h.a. ElementaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Northland ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Walker-hackensack-akeley Sec.C− · 29% proficient
- Northland SecondaryD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 56641 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
56641 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 56641 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 56641
Is 56641 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 56641 ranks 26,478th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on the schools and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 56641 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $259,647. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $57,189 median income, cost of living beats 15% of zip codes.
Is 56641 safe?
56641 is safer than 38% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $368 per resident a year.
Compare 56641 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 56641. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 56641 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.
56641 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 56641: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 56641: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 56641: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 56641: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
56641 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.