Best PlacesBaker, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Baker, 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.
Baker ranks 6,048th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Baker
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.
Baker's strengths and weaknesses
Where Baker ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$115,250 median, better than 92% of towns
Where Baker ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Baker
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Baker home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,250, 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 Baker's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 Baker
Baker'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 Baker.
Who works in Baker, and how
Work in Baker centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Baker
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Baker.
What the weather is like in Baker, month by month
Baker sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 5° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 57° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Baker
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 206 miles away.
The best schools in and around Baker
Schools across Baker average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Barnesville ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Spring Prairie ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Dilworth-glyndon-felton ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dilworth-glyndon-felton Middle SchC+ · 39% proficient
- Horizon Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Hawley SecondaryB+ · 58% proficient
- Moorhead High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Dilworth-glyndon-felton Senior HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Baker school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Baker 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 Baker against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Baker
Is Baker a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Baker ranks 6,048th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, what local pay buys, and population health, and lowest on tree cover and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Baker expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $320,157. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $115,250 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Baker safe?
Yes, Baker is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $199 per resident a year.
Compare Baker with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Baker. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Baker 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.
Baker detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Baker: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Baker: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Baker: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Baker: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Baker 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.