Best PlacesCarlton County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Carlton County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Carlton County ranks 924th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carlton 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 Carlton County
The parts of Carlton 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.
Esko
Fewer homes sit empty, more residents vote, and commutes are shorter.
Cloquet
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Moose Lake
Fewer households have young kids and health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Carlton County run from about the 28th to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Carlton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carlton County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of counties
- Household income$80,889 median, better than 77% of counties
Where Carlton County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Carlton County
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carlton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,889, 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 Carlton County's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 Carlton County
Carlton County'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 Carlton County.
Who works in Carlton County, and how
Work in Carlton County 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 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Carlton County
Carlton County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Carlton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Carlton County growing, and who is moving in?
Carlton County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Carlton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Carlton County, month by month
Carlton County 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 Carlton County
The nearest airport, Duluth International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carlton County
Schools across Carlton County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Winterquist ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- South Terrace ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Churchill ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cloquet MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincoln SecondaryA− · 62% proficient
- Cloquet SeniorB · 48% proficient
- Barnum SecondaryB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carlton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carlton 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 Carlton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Carlton County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of counties and health care access beats 71%.
Common questions about living in Carlton County
Is Carlton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carlton County ranks 924th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and state infrastructure, and lowest on internet speeds and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carlton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $256,245. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $80,889 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Carlton County safe?
Yes, Carlton County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $324 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carlton County?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 22 with lows near 7. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Carlton County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Esko, Cloquet, and Moose Lake. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Carlton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carlton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carlton 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.
Carlton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carlton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carlton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carlton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carlton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carlton 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.