Best PlacesBaxter, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Baxter, 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.
Baxter ranks 5,662nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Baxter
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.
Baxter's strengths and weaknesses
Where Baxter ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of towns
Where Baxter ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap childcare$946 a month, better than only 31% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Baxter
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Baxter home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,511, 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 Baxter's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 Baxter
Baxter'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 Baxter.
Who works in Baxter, and how
Work in Baxter centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Baxter
Baxter has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Baxter and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Baxter, month by month
Baxter sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 53° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Baxter
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Baxter
Schools across Baxter average an A−, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lowell ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Nisswa ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Pillager ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forestview MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Pillager Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Brainerd Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Pillager Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Baxter school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Baxter 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 Baxter against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Baxter
Is Baxter a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Baxter ranks 5,662nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, biking, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Baxter expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $314,872. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $88,511 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Baxter safe?
Yes, Baxter is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Baxter with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Baxter. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Baxter 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.
Baxter detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Baxter: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Baxter: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Baxter: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Baxter: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Baxter 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.