Best PlacesCosmos, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cosmos, 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.
Cosmos ranks 12,949th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cosmos
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.
Cosmos' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cosmos ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 74% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 107 pleasant days a year, better than 72% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 72% of towns
Where Cosmos ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cosmos
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cosmos home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,918, 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 Cosmos' effective rate of 0.82%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cosmos
Cosmos runs older 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 Cosmos.
Who works in Cosmos, and how
Work in Cosmos centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cosmos
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cosmos.
What the weather is like in Cosmos, month by month
Cosmos sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Cosmos
The nearest airport, St. Cloud Regional, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cosmos
Schools across Cosmos average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Buffalo Lake-hector ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Lake Ripley ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Bold-bird Island ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Litchfield Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Hutchinson MiddleA− · 52% proficient
- Acgc Elementary Grades 5 And 6B · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Litchfield Senior HighA− · 63% proficient
- Hutchinson Senior HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Bold Senior High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cosmos school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cosmos 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 Cosmos against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cosmos
Is Cosmos a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cosmos ranks 12,949th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and good schools, and lowest on civic engagement and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cosmos expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,846. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $79,918 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Cosmos safe?
Yes, Cosmos is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
Compare Cosmos with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cosmos. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cosmos 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.
Cosmos detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cosmos: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cosmos: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cosmos: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cosmos: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cosmos 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.