Best PlacesAustin, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Austin, 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.
Austin ranks 1,053rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Austin
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.
Austin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Austin ranks high
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 201 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 76% of cities
Where Austin ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of cities
- Household income$72,396 median, better than only 26% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 27% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Austin
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Austin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,396, 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 Austin's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Austin
Austin's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Austin.
Who works in Austin, and how
Work in Austin 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 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Austin
Austin has more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Austin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Austin, month by month
Austin sees roughly 201 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Austin
The nearest airport, Rochester International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Austin
Schools across Austin average a C, better than 28% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Blooming Prairie ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Southland ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Southgate ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southland MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- I.j. Holton Intermediate SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Southwest MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Austin Senior HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Blooming Prairie SecondaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Southland Senior HighC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Austin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Austin 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 Austin against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Austin suits
Families
Schools land around the 28th percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Austin
Is Austin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Austin ranks 1,053rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, the weather, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Austin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,182. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $72,396 median income, cost of living beats 27% of cities.
Is Austin safe?
Yes, Austin is safer than 69% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Austin?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 12. That works out to about 201 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of cities.
Is Austin good for families?
Schools beat 28% of cities, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $948 a month.
Compare Austin with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Austin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Austin 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.
Austin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Austin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Austin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Austin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Austin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Austin 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.