Best PlacesBemidji, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bemidji, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bemidji ranks 1,305th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bemidji
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.
Bemidji's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bemidji ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- Short commute19.2 minutes each way, better than 90% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of cities
- QuietBetter than 85% of cities
Where Bemidji ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Bemidji
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bemidji home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,879, 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 Bemidji's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bemidji
Bemidji runs younger 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 Bemidji.
Who works in Bemidji, and how
Work in Bemidji centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Bemidji
Bemidji has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bemidji and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bemidji, month by month
Bemidji sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 1. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 10° | 1° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 53° | 43° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Bemidji
The nearest airport, Bemidji Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 197 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bemidji
Schools across Bemidji average a C+, better than 41% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Northern ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Schoolcraft Learning CommunityB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bemidji MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Trek North Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Voyageurs Expeditionary MsD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Bemidji Senior HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Voyageurs Expeditionary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Blackduck SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bemidji school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bemidji 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 Bemidji against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Bemidji suits
Retirees
The weather beats 79% of cities, health care access beats 56%, and it is quieter than 85%.
Common questions about living in Bemidji
Is Bemidji a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bemidji ranks 1,305th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on heat safety, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bemidji expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,382. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $75,879 median income, cost of living beats 38% of cities.
Is Bemidji safe?
Bemidji is safer than 21% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $435 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bemidji?
July highs average about 80 degrees, and January highs near 19 with lows near 1. That works out to about 139 pleasant days a year, more than 79% of cities.
Is Bemidji good for families?
Schools beat 41% of cities, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $1,118 a month.
Compare Bemidji with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bemidji. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bemidji 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.
Bemidji detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bemidji: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bemidji: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bemidji: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bemidji: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bemidji 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.