Best PlacesCenter City, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Center City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Center City ranks 6,035th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Center City
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.
Center City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Center City ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Household income$108,131 median, better than 89% of towns
Where Center City ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Short commute32.6 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,041 a month, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Center City
A household needs to earn about $101,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Center City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,131, 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 Center City's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 Center City
Center City runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Center City.
Who works in Center City, and how
Work in Center City centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Center City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Center City.
What the weather is like in Center City, month by month
Center City sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Center City
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 43 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Center City
Schools across Center City average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeside El.B+ · 55% proficient
- Sunrise River Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Taylors Falls ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chisago Lakes MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- North Branch Area Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Chisago Lakes Senior HighB+ · 58% proficient
- North Branch Area High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Center City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Center City 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 Center City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Center City
Is Center City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Center City ranks 6,035th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Center City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,935. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $108,131 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Center City safe?
Yes, Center City is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
Compare Center City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Center City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Center City 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.
Center City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Center City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Center City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Center City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Center City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Center City 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.