Best PlacesCrow Wing County, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Crow Wing 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.
Crow Wing County ranks 571st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Crow Wing 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 Crow Wing County
The parts of Crow Wing 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.
Baxter
Fewer homes sit empty, biking is better, and prices have run up less.
Crosslake
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
Pequot Lakes & Breezy Point
More residents vote, though homes cost more.
Brainerd
It is noisier and fewer adults hold degrees.
Crosby & Deerwood
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Crow Wing County run from about the 34th to the 93rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Crow Wing County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Crow Wing County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
Where Crow Wing County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 38% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Crow Wing County
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crow Wing County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,562; 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 Crow Wing County's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Crow Wing County
Crow Wing County 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 Crow Wing County.
Who works in Crow Wing County, and how
Work in Crow Wing County 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 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Crow Wing County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Crow Wing County.
Is Crow Wing County growing, and who is moving in?
Crow Wing County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Crow Wing County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Crow Wing County, month by month
Crow Wing County sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 53° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Crow Wing County
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Crow Wing County
Schools across Crow Wing County average a B+, better than 83% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lowell ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Eagle View ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Nisswa ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forestview MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Pequot Lakes MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Community MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Brainerd Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Aitkin Secondary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Pequot Lakes Senior HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crow Wing County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crow Wing 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 Crow Wing County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Crow Wing County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 82% of counties and health care access beats 94%.
Common questions about living in Crow Wing County
Is Crow Wing County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crow Wing County ranks 571st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Crow Wing County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $313,469. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $79,562 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Crow Wing County safe?
Yes, Crow Wing County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Crow Wing County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 22 with lows near 5. That works out to about 130 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Crow Wing County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Baxter, Crosslake, and Pequot Lakes & Breezy Point. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Crow Wing County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crow Wing County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crow Wing 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.
Crow Wing County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crow Wing County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crow Wing County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crow Wing County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crow Wing County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crow Wing 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.