Best PlacesBrewster, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brewster, 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.
Brewster ranks 20,037th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Brewster
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.
Brewster's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brewster ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute21.3 minutes each way, better than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 76% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 76% of towns
Where Brewster ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Brewster
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brewster home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,279, 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 Brewster's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Brewster
Brewster runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brewster.
Who works in Brewster, and how
Work in Brewster centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Brewster
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Brewster.
What the weather is like in Brewster, month by month
Brewster sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 17° | 9° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Brewster
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brewster
Schools across Brewster average a C, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fulda ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Round Lake-brewster ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Heron Lake-okabena ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Round Lake-brewster Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Worthington MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Fulda SecondaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Worthington Senior HighC− · 30% proficient
- Heron Lake-okabena SecondaryD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brewster school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brewster 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 Brewster against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Brewster
Is Brewster a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brewster ranks 20,037th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, short commutes, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brewster expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,467. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $87,279 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Brewster safe?
Brewster is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $364 per resident a year.
Compare Brewster with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brewster. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brewster 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.
Brewster detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brewster: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brewster: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brewster: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brewster: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brewster 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.