Best PlacesBarnum, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Barnum, 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.
Barnum ranks 14,036th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Barnum
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.
Barnum's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barnum ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
Where Barnum ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 27% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Barnum
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barnum home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,667, 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 Barnum's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Barnum
Barnum 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 Barnum.
Who works in Barnum, and how
Work in Barnum centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Barnum
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Barnum.
What the weather is like in Barnum, month by month
Barnum sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 30° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 56° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Barnum
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barnum
Schools across Barnum average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Terrace ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Barnum ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Cromwell-wright ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Barnum SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
- Moose Lake SecondaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Cromwell-wright SecondaryC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barnum school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barnum 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 Barnum against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Barnum
Is Barnum a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barnum ranks 14,036th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, transit, and low disaster risk, and lowest on internet speeds and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barnum expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,994. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $86,667 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Barnum safe?
Yes, Barnum is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $195 per resident a year.
Compare Barnum with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barnum. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barnum 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.
Barnum detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barnum: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barnum: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barnum: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barnum: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barnum 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.