Best PlacesBlakeley, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blakeley, 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.
Blakeley ranks 7,234th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Blakeley
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.
Blakeley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blakeley ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$111,992 median, better than 91% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
Where Blakeley ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,181 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blakeley
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blakeley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $111,992; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Blakeley's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Blakeley
Blakeley runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blakeley.
Who works in Blakeley, and how
Work in Blakeley centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Blakeley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Blakeley.
What the weather is like in Blakeley, month by month
Blakeley sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Blakeley
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 36 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Blakeley
Schools across Blakeley average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Crest ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Park ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Le Sueur-henderson Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Belle Plaine Junior HighC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Belle Plaine Senior HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Le Sueur-henderson High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blakeley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blakeley 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 Blakeley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blakeley
Is Blakeley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blakeley ranks 7,234th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blakeley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $433,413. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $111,992 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Blakeley safe?
Yes, Blakeley is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $193 per resident a year.
Compare Blakeley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blakeley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blakeley 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.
Blakeley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blakeley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blakeley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blakeley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blakeley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blakeley 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.