Best Places56649, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 56649, 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.
56649 ranks 12,634th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 56649
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.
56649's strengths and weaknesses
Where 56649 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Short commute13.0 minutes each way, better than 98% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 56649 ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 34% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 56649
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 56649 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,483, 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 56649's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 56649
56649 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 56649.
Who works in 56649, and how
Work in 56649 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 56649
56649 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 56649 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 56649, month by month
56649 sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near -1. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 9° | -1° |
| April | 50° | 37° | 25° |
| July | 81° | 67° | 52° |
| October | 55° | 44° | 34° |
Flying in and out of 56649
The nearest airport, Falls International/Einarson Field, is about 1 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 256 miles away.
The best schools in and around 56649
Schools across 56649 average a B, better than 66% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- North Woods ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Falls ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Littlefork-big Falls ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Littlefork-big Falls SecondaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Indus SecondaryB · 45% proficient
- Falls SecondaryC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 56649 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
56649 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 56649 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 56649
Is 56649 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 56649 ranks 12,634th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on distance from a big city and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 56649 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $168,350. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $67,483 median income, cost of living beats 46% of zip codes.
Is 56649 safe?
56649 is safer than 24% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $470 per resident a year.
Compare 56649 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 56649. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 56649 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.
56649 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 56649: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 56649: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 56649: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 56649: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
56649 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.