Best PlacesBrainerd, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brainerd, 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.
Brainerd ranks 9,788th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Brainerd
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.
Brainerd's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brainerd ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Brainerd ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 25% of towns
- Cheap childcare$946 a month, better than only 31% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 31% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Brainerd
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brainerd home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,356, 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 Brainerd's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Brainerd
Brainerd'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 Brainerd.
Who works in Brainerd, and how
Work in Brainerd centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Brainerd
Brainerd has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of towns and more parkland per resident than 90% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Brainerd and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Brainerd, month by month
Brainerd 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 Brainerd
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brainerd
Schools across Brainerd average a B+, 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
- Middle Level Alternative ProgramD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Brainerd Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Pillager Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Crosby-ironton SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brainerd school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brainerd 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 Brainerd against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Brainerd suits
Retirees
The weather beats 84% of towns and health care access beats 60%.
Common questions about living in Brainerd
Is Brainerd a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brainerd ranks 9,788th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, biking, and walkability, 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 Brainerd expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $253,792. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $76,356 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Brainerd safe?
Yes, Brainerd is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brainerd?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 22 with lows near 5. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of towns.
Is Brainerd good for families?
Schools beat 80% of towns, crime safety beats 65%, and childcare runs $946 a month.
Compare Brainerd with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brainerd. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brainerd 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.
Brainerd detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brainerd: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brainerd: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brainerd: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brainerd: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brainerd 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.