Best PlacesClay County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clay County, 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.
Clay County ranks 272nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clay 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 Clay County
The parts of Clay 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.
Barnesville
Dilworth
More households have young kids and more residents vote.
Hawley
Incomes run higher, though biking is worse.
Moorhead
Streets are more walkable, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Clay County run from about the 23rd to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clay County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clay County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
Where Clay County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clay County
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clay County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,913, 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 Clay County's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 Clay County
Clay County runs younger than the country, 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 Clay County.
Who works in Clay County, and how
Work in Clay County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Clay County
Clay County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties and more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clay County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clay County growing, and who is moving in?
Clay County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Fargo, ND metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clay County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clay County, month by month
Clay County sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 12° | 5° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 57° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Clay County
The nearest airport, Hector International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 215 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clay County
Schools across Clay County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Longfellow Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Barnesville ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Viking Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ben Franklin Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Dilworth-glyndon-felton Middle SchC+ · 39% proficient
- Horizon Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Barnesville SecondaryB+ · 58% proficient
- Hawley SecondaryB+ · 58% proficient
- Moorhead High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clay County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clay 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 Clay County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clay County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 85% of counties and health care access beats 67%.
Common questions about living in Clay County
Is Clay County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clay County ranks 272nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, few empty homes, and heat safety, and lowest on noise and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clay County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,546. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $82,913 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Clay County safe?
Yes, Clay County is safer than 83% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clay County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 20 with lows near 5. That works out to about 135 pleasant days a year, more than 85% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clay County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Barnesville, Dilworth, and Hawley. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Clay County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clay County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clay 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.
Clay County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clay County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clay County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clay County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clay County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clay 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.