Best PlacesArco, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Arco, 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.
Arco ranks 7,261st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Arco
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.
Arco's strengths and weaknesses
Where Arco ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
Where Arco ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Arco
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,354, 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 Arco's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Arco
Arco'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 Arco.
Who works in Arco, and how
Work in Arco centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Arco
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Arco.
What the weather is like in Arco, month by month
Arco sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 17° | 9° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Arco
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Arco
Schools across Arco average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Elementary - IvanhoeA · 68% proficient
- Minneota ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Lake Benton ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lynd Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Minneota SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Rtr Secondary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arco school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arco 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 Arco against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Arco
Is Arco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arco ranks 7,261st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state infrastructure, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Arco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,542. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $92,354 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Arco safe?
Yes, Arco is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Arco with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arco 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.
Arco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arco 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.