Best PlacesBrookston, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brookston, 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.
Brookston ranks 42,324th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Brookston
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.
Brookston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brookston ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 100 pleasant days a year, better than 68% of towns
Where Brookston ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute34.1 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Brookston
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brookston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,674, 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 Brookston's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brookston
Brookston's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brookston.
Who works in Brookston, and how
Work in Brookston centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Brookston
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Brookston.
What the weather is like in Brookston, month by month
Brookston sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 14° | 7° |
| April | 48° | 38° | 29° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Brookston
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 22 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 Brookston
Schools across Brookston average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Floodwood ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- South Ridge ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Floodwood SecondaryC− · 30% proficient
- South Ridge SecondaryD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brookston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brookston 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 Brookston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Brookston
Is Brookston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brookston ranks 42,324th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state infrastructure, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brookston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $220,585. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $65,674 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Brookston safe?
Brookston is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $611 per resident a year.
Compare Brookston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brookston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brookston 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.
Brookston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brookston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brookston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brookston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brookston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brookston 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.