Best PlacesColumbia Heights, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Columbia Heights, 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.
Columbia Heights ranks 11,020th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Columbia Heights
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.
Columbia Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Columbia Heights ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
Where Columbia Heights ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 9% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Columbia Heights
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbia Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $75,452; 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 Columbia Heights' effective rate of 1.07%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Columbia Heights
Columbia Heights'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 Columbia Heights.
Who works in Columbia Heights, and how
Work in Columbia Heights centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Columbia Heights
Columbia Heights has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Columbia Heights and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Columbia Heights, month by month
Columbia Heights sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Columbia Heights
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 12 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 Columbia Heights
Schools across Columbia Heights average a D+, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Highland ElementaryD · 18% proficient
- North Park School For InnovationD− · 14% proficient
- Valley View ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Prodeo Columbia Heights MiddleD− · 17% proficient
- Columbia AcademyD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbia Heights Senior HighC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Columbia Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Columbia Heights 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 Columbia Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Columbia Heights suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Columbia Heights
Is Columbia Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbia Heights ranks 11,020th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Columbia Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $282,781. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,452 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Columbia Heights safe?
Columbia Heights is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $430 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Columbia Heights?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 11. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of towns.
Is Columbia Heights good for families?
Schools beat 9% of towns, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Compare Columbia Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbia Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbia Heights 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.
Columbia Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbia Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbia Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbia Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbia Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbia Heights 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.