Best PlacesCass County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cass 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.
Cass County ranks 1,497th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cass 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 Cass County
The parts of Cass 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.
Pillager
Local pay stretches further, schools score higher, and incomes run higher.
Backus
Crime runs lower, though fewer households have young kids.
Walker
Prices have run up less, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Cass County run from about the 10th to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cass County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cass County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Cass County ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cass County
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cass County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,084; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Cass County's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Cass County
Cass County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cass County.
Who works in Cass County, and how
Work in Cass 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 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cass County
Cass County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cass County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cass County growing, and who is moving in?
Cass County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cass County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cass County, month by month
Cass County sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 2. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 11° | 2° |
| April | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 53° | 44° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Cass County
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cass County
Schools across Cass County average a C, better than 41% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle View ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Nisswa ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Sebeka ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forestview MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Pequot Lakes MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Pillager Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Brainerd Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Pillager Senior High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Pequot Lakes Senior HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cass County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cass 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 Cass County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cass County suits
Families
Schools land around the 41st percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Retirees
The weather beats 85% of counties, health care access beats 89%, and it is quieter than 73%.
Common questions about living in Cass County
Is Cass County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cass County ranks 1,497th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on empty homes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cass County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,994. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $70,084 median income, cost of living beats 42% of counties.
Is Cass County safe?
Yes, Cass County is safer than 69% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cass County?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 20 with lows near 2. That works out to about 134 pleasant days a year, more than 85% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cass County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pillager, Backus, and Walker. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cass County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cass County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cass 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.
Cass County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cass County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cass County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cass County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cass County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cass 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.