Best PlacesBlue Earth County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Blue Earth County, 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.
Blue Earth County ranks 292nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Blue Earth County
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.
The best areas in Blue Earth County
The parts of Blue Earth County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Eagle Lake
More households have young kids, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Lake Crystal
Fewer homes sit empty, though biking is worse.
Mapleton
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Mankato
Crime runs lower, though prices have run up more.
Scores across Blue Earth County run from about the 32nd to the 93rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Blue Earth County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blue Earth County ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Short commute16.8 minutes each way, better than 91% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
Where Blue Earth County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 20% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Blue Earth County
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blue Earth County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,061, 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 Blue Earth County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Blue Earth County
Blue Earth County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blue Earth County.
Who works in Blue Earth County, and how
Work in Blue Earth County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Blue Earth County
Blue Earth County has more parkland per resident than 71% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 70% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Blue Earth County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Blue Earth County growing, and who is moving in?
Blue Earth County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Blue Earth County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Blue Earth County, month by month
Blue Earth County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Blue Earth County
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 64 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 Blue Earth County
Schools across Blue Earth County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lk Crystal Wellcome Memorial ElA · 70% proficient
- Bridges Community ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Waterville ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dakota Meadows Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Prairie Winds Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Waterville-elysian-morristown Jr.C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- New Ulm High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Mankato West Senior HighA− · 65% proficient
- Maple River SecondaryA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blue Earth County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blue Earth County 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 Blue Earth County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Blue Earth County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 75% of counties and health care access beats 58%.
Common questions about living in Blue Earth County
Is Blue Earth County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blue Earth County ranks 292nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on population health, heat safety, and short commutes, 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 Blue Earth County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,245. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $80,061 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Blue Earth County safe?
Yes, Blue Earth County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Blue Earth County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 11. That works out to about 120 pleasant days a year, more than 75% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Blue Earth County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Eagle Lake, Lake Crystal, and Mapleton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Blue Earth County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blue Earth County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blue Earth County 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.
Blue Earth County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blue Earth County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blue Earth County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blue Earth County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blue Earth County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blue Earth County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.